Sure Coiffures! Princess Hair by Sharee Miller

All princesses wear crowns.

But...not all princesses have the same hair.

Hair care can be a can of worms for everyone, but some princesses have a trouble fitting their tiaras on top of their tresses.

Do princesses with dreadlocks rock? Do princesses with curls twirl in pearls?

Princesses with braids throw parades.

Princesses with buns love to run.

Is a Mohawk or a Frohawk suitable for a monarch?

Is the head that wears the crown well-coiffed?

Not all princesses have hair like Rapunzel, and Sheree Miller's Princess Hair (Little, Brown and Company, 2017) takes a lighthearted look at  hair care in her catalog of coiffures, all with the message that princess hair comes in all kinds, that all types of crowning glories can be worn with crowns in place. Her illustrations of would-be crowned heads run the gamut of hair glam, and her happy and nappy princesses are royally and properly coiffured for whatever tiara sits on top. As Kirkus Review says of Miller's illustrations, "Spread by double-page spread, the book highlights a multitude of diverse hairstyles while young girls play dress-up, all the while wearing their princess crowns.

The Show of the Season: A Season to Bee: A Stylish Book of Colors by Carlos Aponte

We know that spring brings April showers and May flowers.

But to the fashionistas of the bug world, the new season brings something else--spring fashions and spring fashion shows.

All of those insects who have spent the winter clad in dull cocoons and other drab metamorphological stages are ready for a change--a BIG change. The fashionistas of the arthropod persuasion are ready to burst out and flaunt their brand-new shapes and brand new look! There's excitement in the spring air!

It's spring in the meadow.
Time to shuck off the freeze.
What's the New Look from?
The flowers and trees?

It's time for the bugs to strut their stuff on the runway--under the direction of our fashion first designer.

"It's a season to bee!" exclaims Miss V. McQueen,
Editor of BUZZ Fashion Magazine.

Long-limbed bugs leg it across the stage, their high heeled shoes clacking out a rhythm,

Ladybugs are pretty in red polka-dotted wings, and grasshoppers copy the color of the season--green.

Some sport another stylish shade of the month, copying the iris and the violet. Fireflies favor the cool look of biolumenescence and a quick flash of glimmer glam. Some choose the blue of the spring sky, and some are bold like the bees in flashy, clash-y, black and gold stripes. The paparazzis' cameras flash like stars in the spring sky.

So much to see!

But the best thing, says Diva McQueen, is to bee yourself in your true colors, in Carlos Aponte's A Season to Bee (Price Stern Sloan/Penguin Group, 2017). While preschoolers may not get all the references to high fashion models and famous fashion house designers, they will love the dressed up insects in their flashy fashions in this spring-themed story of the rainbow of seasonal colors.

"Dress-up Day!" Pinkalicious--Fashion Fun by Victoria Kann

It's a playdate party and hostess Pinkalicious welcomes her pals Molly and Ross. Molly arrives with a fat folder.

"What's in there?" I asked.

"Fashion show pictures I have collected," says Molly.

Ross says, "I want dresses like that!"

Pinkalicious is just about to suggest that they raid her mom's closet for dress-up fashions, when Mom gets the drift.

"Please use your imaginations, not my clothes!

Play in YOUR room!"

And Pinkalicious rises to the occasion! She and her friends brainstorm materials that they can use to make their creations for the fashion show. Pinkie notices one fashion photo with several bows, and comes up with an novel idea.

"Bowtie pasta!"

And the young designers are off and running, collecting found objects from all parts of Pinkie's house--twist-ties, glue, glitter, bubble wrap, newspapers, even coffee filters and paper cupcake cups.

And soon the super models are ready for the runway and the photo shoot by brother Peter and his new camera, in Victoria Kann's newest I-Can-Read Level 1 book, Pinkalicious: Fashion Fun (I Can Read Level 1) (Harper, 2016). With a controlled vocabulary text and Kann's lively illustrations, this one will be a hit for young crafters and fashionistas alike and which at least makes the case for creativity and keeping the mess out of Mom's bedroom (if not out of Pinkie's!)

A Chapeau for All Seasons: I Had a Favorite Hat by Boni Ashburn

I HAD A FAVORITE HAT THAT WAS MY BESTEST HAT EVER.

I WORE IT AT THE BEACH. IT WAS FLIPPY AND FLOPPY.

But beach days don't last forever, and when the autumn leaves start to fall, Mom says it's time to put away summer things. But her daughter has other ideas.

I HUNG IT ON MY DOOR,
WAITING TO BE SO MUCH MORE....

Our crafty girl recognizes the hat has other possibilities and when October rolls around. she has an inspiration.

WITH A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT....
... A HALLOWEEN WITCH HAT!

As the year goes by, the hat morphs into many styles. A few Christmas ornaments makes it a fine holiday concert chapeau, and some cute cut-out red hearts make it perfect for Valentine's day. It does double duty for playing dress-up with Maggie, and it's a natural for an Easter hat with a gauzy blue veil and a touch of daffodils--until Grandma appropriates it, declaring it perfect for her spring garden's scarecrow.

But then one day, the girl finds the scarecrow hat-less! Her hapless hat has been carried away by the breeze!

But luckily summer is coming and her friend Maggie points out that floppy sunhats are o-u-t of style this season.

"SHINY VISORS ARE IN!" SHE SAYS.

HMMM! Maybe with a little of this and....

Boni Ashburn's I Had a Favorite Hat (Abrams Books, 2015), with it pinkish cover and stylish theme is obviously aimed at the young female fashionista, a companion book to its popular predecessor, I Had a Favorite Dress, (see my review here) one which proves that our girl has learned a thing or two from her crafty (in more ways than one) Mom. Although this one is a natural as an activity starter for birthday or holiday parties for girls, there may be some future Christian Diors out there who will pick up some techniques for their careers in haute couture as well.

"The energetic and engaging illustrations, created using graphite, cut paper, watercolor, crayon, and PhotoShop, invite perusal," points out School Library Journal.

Casting Call: Fancy Nancy: Spring Fashion Fling by Jane O'Connor

OOH-LA-LA! SPRING IS IN THE AIR.

BREE AND I FINISH DECORATING OUR EASTER EGGS. WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO THAT WOULD BE EXTRA SPRING-Y?

Fancy Nancy Clancy is always up for hostessing a shingdig, and a spring-themed shindig quickly presents itself. How about a fashion show, starring their favorite dolls as models--Mirabelle, Chiffon, and Sarinda! Nancy pulls out her boxes of doo-dads--feathers, ribbons, fabrics, bows, buttons, and beads--and the young designers, with Nancy's little sister JoJo right in the middle of it all. The three designers get to work on making their models' ensembles (that's fancy for outfits, you know) totally unique (fancy for one-of-a-kind.)  Then, to give their fashion show a unique ambiance, Bree comes up with a brainstorm:

WE DECIDE TO USE REAL FLOWERS IN OUR DESIGNS!

With costume design done, Nancy throws her imagination into designing blossom-themed handmade invitations, which, of course, must be hand delivered while they are as fresh as a daisy. Dad and Bree's brother Freddy are recruited to play paparazzi and record the entrance of the celebrities. Elegant refreshments and a lovely tea table designed by Mom provides just the aura for a spring fashion show, and daisy chains, phlox, and tulips complete the decor for the salon.

THEN SOMETHING TRAGIC HAPPENS.

IT'S A FASHION FAUX-PAS!

Nancy herself trips over some of the trailing table decor, and the tea table crashes to the floor. There are broken Easter eggs, smooshed delicacies, and crushed flowers all over. Is the spring bash a bust?

But with Nancy Clancy in charge, the show always goes on, in Jane O'Connor's latest Clancy clan venture, Fancy Nancy: Spring Fashion Fling (HarperFestival, 2015). With flowers, fashions, dolls, and Frenchy the poodle decked in pastels, it's an festive event to make everyone forget the sooty snows of winter. Inexpensive and definitely vocabulary building, this one even includes plenty of stickers to adorn those invitations that young readers will likely be creating for their own spring flings.

Hairdo Snafu! Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day by Jane O'Connor

I bought special styling mousse. On the can it guarantees "shiny curls with plenty of bounce."

I apply the mousse. (You say "moose," not "mousse"--it's French for foam.) I use a lot more than the can says because my client's hair is very straight. Also because it's so much fun to push the button--poof!

It's hard being the only fancy person in a plain family, but Fancy Nancy Clancy never misses an opportunity to pitch the stylish life.

When Dad invites Mom out for a birthday dinner and a movie date, Nancy seizes the occasion to fancy up her ultra plain-Jane mom. She turns her outdoor clubhouse into the posh Ooh La La Beauty Spa and ushers her mom into a comfy seat for a makeover. Her client loves the hand massage, the banana-and-honey facial complete with elegante turban designed by Nancy, the sea salt foot soak, the recorder music to relax her while she rests with cucumber slices on her eyes, and the fruit parfaits Nancy dishes up as refreshment.

But when it comes to the makeover, her client is a hard sell. Despite Nancy's rainbow of nail polish choices, Mom declines forever fuscia, lotus blossom, and cherry pie polish:

Guess which one my mom picks?

My mom doesn't want any of them. She wants clear nail polish.

Sheesh! But her motto is that the client's wish is her command, so, undeterred, Nancy moves on to cosmetics. Her mom accedes to a modest application of eye shadow, pink lip gloss, and blush on her cheeks. "My mom is so pretty," Nancy thinks.

And now for Nancy's specialty--le coiffure! Nancy is determined that her mom's straight ponytail will be replaced by natural-looking curly tresses like hers. She slathers on the mousse, and using her friend Bree's technique, turns her mom's hair into dozens of small braids. Then she encourages her mom to relax while it dries while she, Nancy, entertains with card tricks and a hula hoop performance.

Then it's time for THE REVEAL!

OH NO!

My mom's hair is horrible, hideous, horrendous! It's nothing like the picture on the can!

Mom's coiffure would make Medusa envious! It's time for the talented amateur to call in a pro. Nancy phones Mrs. DeVine, a former genuine hair professional. Mrs. DeVine's diagnosis calls for a hardcore remedy--hairspray!

"Voila!" says Mrs. DeVine.

"It's magnifique!" I say.

Ever the good sport, Mom dons her trusty little black dress, and with a carbon copy of Mrs. DeVine's cast-iron 1960s "Flip" hairdo, waves gamely as she departs for her big night out, even wearing a sequined pipe-cleaner headband spelling out "MOM," designed and handcrafted by--Nancy.

It's a quintessential Fancy Nancy outing in Jane O'Connor's and Robin Preiss Glasser's just-published Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day (HarperCollins, 2010). With directions for concocting a banana facial, a sea salt and lemon foot bath, a yummy blueberry yogurt parfait, and a light-hearted cautionary tale about the perils of coiffure construction, all buoyed by Glasser's exuberant illustrations, this Fancy Nancy entry is sure to delight her multitudes of fashionista fans.