Mary Had a Little Glam

"Mary had a little glam/ that grew into a LOT./ And everywhere that Mary went,/ she wasn't hard to spot."

In a gleeful story starring a young black fashionista that echoes the 19th-century nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb," Mary Had a Little Glam follows Mary to school one day as she decides to give everyone in the class a fashion makeover. At Mother Goose Elementary, Mary's diverse classmates are straight out of another century, clothes-wise, including Little Boy Blue, Georgie Porgie and Little Bo Peep. They are "glam-less, head to toe": "So Mary offered fashion tips:/ 'More pink! More beads! More shine!'/ A hat for him and trim for her./ Go boa. It's divine.' " By the time everyone's glammed up to the hilt, it's recess, and the students realize they are now too accessorized to play on the swing set and slides. Mary urges them to fling off their fashion-forward scarves and shoes so they can run around freely: "Now Mary's flair for what to wear/ is better than before./ True glamour often calls for lots.../ But sometimes less is more!"

Tammi Sauer's (Chicken Dance; Cowboy Camp) wordplay is as spirited as the story--Mary doesn't walk, she "click-clacks," and "gowns" and "crowns" rhyme with "mounds" (of chiffon). Illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton (The Hula-Hoopin' Queen; We Shall Overcome) captures the giddy makeover mayhem in the dramatic expressions of her characters and in her wonderful, freewheeling use of collaged fabrics and vintage papers. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness

Powered by: Xtenit