BROWNIE & PEARL GET DOLLED UP

The second Brownie and Pearl outing (Brownie & Pearl Step Out, 2010) solidifies Brownie as a true girly-girl when she squeezes in a bit of dress-up fun before bedtime. Although she’s already wearing her purple pajamas, she and her cat Pearl raid a dresser for a pink feather boa, pearls, face powder, lipstick (“For Brownie,” reads the text—it’d be tough for a cat to pucker up) and perfume. Hair brushed, and shod in unmentioned, though obvious, grown-up–sized purple heels, Brownie and Pearl show themselves off to the adults, presumably Brownie’s more conservatively clad parents. Artwork reveals only the bottom half of the adults’ bodies on the verso page, firmly situating the attention on the little girl and her pet, who look mighty pleased with themselves as the parents announce, “You are so dolled up!” By book’s end, they are cozied up in bed with the boa still around them and glitter dotting their faces. Biggs’s digitally produced art matches the sweet sense of fun captured by Rylant’s text, together creating a lovely, girly bedtime story. (Picture book/early reader. 3-6)