Edie's Ensembles- a book review

Quote of the day:

"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, go throw your tv set away, and in its place you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall."  -Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory



Featured book of the day:

Title: Edie's Ensembles

Author/Illustrator:  

Ages:  4-8

Let's take a peek inside shall we?

 My take on the book:

Edie has great fashion sense and an ooohhh-la-la style. Her best friend, Andrew, plays dress-up with her and they use the school hallway as their runway.  She spins, twirls and pirouettes showing off her latest creation.  Her fashionista spirit gets the attention of her classmates which inspires her to go even more outlandish in her designs.  She becomes obsessed with making the next over-the-top outfit.  She gets so focused on her clothing rack that she forgets all about her BFF Andrew.  She rips, sews and assembles more and more bizarre apparel and flaunts a new costumes hoping she can outdo herself from the previous day.  

Then one day she puts together an outfit so ostentatious and out-of-the-box that even she has to admit she has crossed the line of sensibility.  Edie gets into a predicament that she cannot save herself from and none of her friends come to her rescue.  Will this be the end of her obsessive tailor-made clothes?  Will Edie learn the valuable lesson that clothes do not make the person but it's what is inside that person that really counts.   

The naked truth is that yes - Edie realizes her faux pas and in so doing discovers that she has a lot to offer to her friends and does not need to make bold, outlandish statements with her clothes...she is all she needs.  Edie discovers that she is amazing "au natural" and her best friend Andrew heartily agrees and happily they restore their friendship.  

About the author/illustrator:

Ashley Spires grew up in a little town on the coast of B.C. called Tsawwassen with two parents, an older sister, eight cats, a dog and the occasional newt.

For a while she thought that animation was her future, but then photography caught her eye, which led her to bookmaking courses. These classes opened her eyes to the world of illustration and she never looked back. Delighted that there was, in fact, a career that allowed her to remain in her pajamas, hang out with her cats and be productive at the same time, illustration is the perfect job for her.

Ashley spent time living in Toronto and Saskatoon before returning to her home turf of Delta, BC where she now resides with three cats, a dog and her extremely patient fella.

Like Binky, Ashley does not take kindly to insects, though she rarely eats them. She has ingested a number of bugs accidentally during her frequent jogs and bike rides, but trust me, she didn’t enjoy it.

Book Review Rating:  8  (Fantastic!)

Read on and read always.  Own your day!