GET DRESSED!

A fashion lookbook for the preschool set—including a soup pot and a skirt made of envelopes?

Influential artist Chwast eschews the normal “getting dressed” picture-book theme in favor of a much more creative ploy. Socks, shirts, pants and underwear all make an appearance, but so do funnels, paintbrushes and feather dusters. Instead of telling youngsters how to get dressed, Chwast encourages them to think about the adventures the outfit could inspire. Why, for instance, would one wear a floral jumpsuit, sunglasses and a fan? Flip open the gatefold to reveal a girl blending into a leopard-inhabited garden, with the sage advice: “Get dressed to hide.” Or the outfit made up of a bath towel, rubber gloves, boxer shorts and rain boots? Lift the flap to find a boy flying, with a towel cape around his neck. The accompanying text: “Get dressed to make believe.” Chwast’s wacky (and yet some, quite normal) combinations are sure to encourage young fashionistas to be comfortable with their own personal style. Even the cover, designed as a suit jacket that fastens with a magnetic snap, invites readers to open a world of possibilities. Sturdy, card-stock pages stand a good chance of making it through multiple reads.

A clever, dapper package.