Not That Tutu!

by Michelle Sinclair Colman, Hiroe Nakata (Illustrator)

Overview

Taylor loved her tutu and wore it all the time, day and night. She wore it to school and she wore it in the pool, much to the mild annoyance and amusement of her friends and family. Will she ever give up that tutu?

With style and humor, this charming board book addresses young children's attachments to specific articles of clothing. Hiroe Nakata's playful illustrations are the perfect complement to Michelle Sinclair Colman's lively rhyming text. And the cover features a tulle tutu!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307976987
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	02/12/2013
Pages:	20
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

MICHELLE SINCLAIR COLMAN is the author of the Urban Babies Wear Black series, which she was inspired to create after the birth of her first child. Now, after a move from Chicago to New York, Michelle draws her inspiration from her two children. Michelle lives in Waccabuc, New York.

HIROE NAKATA grew up in Japan, where she was encouraged in her drawing by her grandfather, a painter. She moved to the United States when she was 16 and is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design. She has illustrated numerous children's books and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Editorial Reviews

Hiroe Nakata's illustrations are bright and appealing and the little swatch of tulle on the cover will impress Fancy Nancys in training.

The New York Times - Pamela Paul

Colman celebrated the sartorial preferences of babies in Urban Babies Wear Black and its sequels, and she now turns to an older girl, Taylor, who can’t live without her signature garment: “She wore her tutu to school. ‘Not again,’ her mother sighed. She wore her tutu in the pool. ‘Not again,’ her father moaned.” When the tutu becomes too tattered to wear, Taylor debuts a new accessory. Nakata’s paintings of the exuberant heroine and her benevolently exasperated family are characteristically buoyant and warm. Up to age 4. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Taylor, with a recognizably preschool fashion sense, wears her tutu everywhere. The text is a to-the-point list of some of the places Taylor sports her bright pink garment and includes, in dialogue, the bemused comments of her long-suffering family members and friends: "Not again!" Watercolor scenes that stretch across both pages depict a lively preschool girl in said tutu as she sleds, shops, sleeps and even swims (but does little ballet). Nakata's loose and buoyant watercolors capture Taylor's eclectic style as she pairs the tutu with cowboy boots, snow pants and pajamas, until she finally grows tired of it and finds a substitute. While the girl's suburban family is Caucasian, a little more diversity would have been welcome in the depiction of her friends. Attracted by the little tulle tutu on the cover, little ones seeking a ballet-themed tale may be disappointed, but this outing will resonate with any youngster who has worn a favorite outfit to shreds. (Board book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews

Given that I see my husband wearing his favorite shirt over and over, I can relate to the story in this board book. Taylor has fallen in love with her pink tutu. She wears it night and day. She wears it to school, in the swimming pool, while sledding with her brother, in bed and at the grocery store. Her family and friends all say "not again." Of course, as the days and activities continue, the tutu is starting to fall apart. Finally, Taylor hands the tattered tutu to her mother and says "not again!" But is her attachment to a piece of clothing gone? Not at all! The last scene shows her with bunny slippers and Taylor states "I'm never taking them off!" It is amusing and given the pink tutu on the cover, this book will certainly appeal more to girls than boys. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot