WHERE DID MY CLOTHES COME FROM?

Using a pair of energetic children as models, Butterworth describes the making of the clothes they wear.

This companion to the author and illustrator’s How Did That Get in My Lunchbox? The Story of Food (2011) is an appealing depiction of the production of clothes of cotton, wool, silk, polyesters, and rubber. The simple narrative is well-organized. Opening with the assumption that readers will have different outfits for different uses, the author presents each material in terms of particular articles of clothing: cotton jeans, wool sweaters, silk party dresses, polyester soccer uniforms and fleeces, rubber boots. Readers will be able to see how the processes for making fabric are similar in spite of the difference in plant or animal sources. The explanation is simple and clear, and the steps are illustrated in mixed-media images filled with amusing details. While an ethnically diverse range of human workers are involved along the way, one or the other of the two children pictured on the cover (a dark-skinned girl with straight brown hair and a blond, Caucasian boy) is always shown wearing the finished results. The endpapers display a satisfying array of clothing, from bikinis, vests, and warm winter caps to formalwear. Butterworth includes a reminder of ways to recycle outgrown or unneeded clothing, a short bibliography, and index.

This engaging account will wear well in any collection.