The Yellow Tutu, by Kirsten Bramsen, ill. Carin Bramsen
Margo is the delighted recipient of a bright yellow tutu on her birthday. It is so beautiful! Worn on her head, it makes her feel like she is the sun, so she wears it to school to share the wonder with her friends – who do not share her joy. At all. In fact, they rather cruelly smash it to smithereens until one friend sees the vision, and the two dance away lost in their lovely imaginings. (She’s a sunflower! A lion!)
The first thing you notice about this book is the art. It’s beautiful, if a touch too smooth, and the yellow is so sunny, it nearly radiates. The page I can’t stop showing everyone, though, is the page where Margo’s feelings are crushed by her classmates. The expression is simply perfect. Her lower lip folds in, bitten between teeth to keep from crying while her averted eyes shine with unspilled tears and her creased forehead shows how worried she is that they will well right over and down her cheeks. You feel that image – how often does that happen?
At the end, though, you feel the lightness and joy return just as strongly, and I love that she is allowed to revel in the magic of her young imagination simply by finding that one person who gets her. The message here is all for self-confidence and taking joy in what makes you happy, and who doesn’t want that encouraging and uplifting thought for their child? Between that and the gorgeous illustrations, this is a winner all around.
Must now go shop for tutu. Do you think they make yellow ones in my size?
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