I Had a Favorite Dress

I Had A Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn
Illustrated by Julia Denos
2011

A young girl had a dress that was her "favoritest dress ever." She wore it every Tuesday, her favorite day of the week. One day, she put it on and it was too short. She got really upset but asked her mom to make something else out of the dress. "And SNIP, SNIP, sew, sew...New shirt, hello!' Her crafty mother turned her favorite dress into a new ruffly shirt which became her favoritest to wear on her new favoritest day of the week, Wednesday. As the seasons change and the girl outgrows the shirt, it gets turned into other articles of clothing until there's only enough material left for it to become a hair bow, and finally the material for a collage portrait.
I Had a Favorite Dress is very entertaining and beautifully illustrated book. It's about growing up, outgrowing things we love and finding a way of preserving the memories. The story is structured around the passing of the seasons and the days of the week, which makes it a good book to include in the lower grades as part of units on time and memories. It's urban and multicultural characters make it a cool addition to any home or classroom library.