Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

An exuberant fictionalized rendering of designer Elsa Schiaparelli's early life.Maclear and Morstad (Julia, Child, 2014) again join forces, here exploring what sparked the firecracker of creativity in "Schiap" (pronounced "Skap"), an indomitable little white girl from Rome who went on to become one of the 20th century's most influential and radical fashion designers. Maclear's intimate, first-person, present-tense account begins with how the young Schiap internalized her parents' affection for her beautiful older sister and their palpable disappointment in their less-attractive second child. It centers on an episode made famous in Schiaparelli's autobiography—namely, when, around age 7, she was inspired to try to make herself more beautiful by planting flower seeds in her "ears, mouth, and nose" that then had to be removed by "two doctors." Says Schiap: "My plan flops, but a different kind of seed is planted… / …a seed of wild imagination." Here, as throughout the story, Morstad's delicate, detailed mixed-media illustrations masterfully expand on the text, showing a full-page close-up of the doe-eyed Schiap's face dwarfed by a dazzling garland of flowers, some of which are pointedly colored in what the adult Schiaparelli would later re-create as "shocking pink," which set the 1931 fashion world "spin[ning] with panic and delight."Not only a gorgeous portrayal of this 20th-century creative genius, but an empowering tale encouraging readers to "dare to be different." (author and illustrator's note, endnotes, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)

ALA Booklist (Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

With beautiful, richly colorful, and playful artwork nicely evoking the character of its subject, this lyrical biography of Elsa Schiaparelli offers picture-book readers an enlightening introduction to the wildly inventive and influential fashion designer. Beginning with her staid childhood, Maclear and Morstad draw a sharp comparison between her family, rendered in grays and browns, and the explosive colors of flowers Elsa preferred, which appear in bold pinks and reds, sometimes growing out of her skin. As she leaves the formality of the Italian aristocracy behind and strikes out on her own, her lively imagination and surreal sense of style eventually take the fashion world by storm, particularly when she invents her signature color, shocking pink, which (unshockingly) is heavily featured in the palette of the illustrations. Morstad's delicate watercolor illustrations do a great job of depicting Schiaparelli's designs, but subtle hints nk flowers composed of dresses, shoes, and gloves, for instance phasize how Schiaparelli's view of the world shaped her artwork. Little ones who "dare to be different" will be inspired.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Vengeful Minya is holding Sarai's (Strange the Dreamer) soul in thrall. In interspersed chapters, in another world, Nova is dealing with her own trauma. By the time Nova appears in the main narrative, readers have learned how her story fits among the puzzle pieces of the plot. Taylor's prodigious imagination is on full display: marvelous world-building, suspenseful plotting, complex characterization, finely crafted prose, and grand thematic flourishes.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

An exuberant fictionalized rendering of designer Elsa Schiaparelli's early life.Maclear and Morstad (Julia, Child, 2014) again join forces, here exploring what sparked the firecracker of creativity in "Schiap" (pronounced "Skap"), an indomitable little white girl from Rome who went on to become one of the 20th century's most influential and radical fashion designers. Maclear's intimate, first-person, present-tense account begins with how the young Schiap internalized her parents' affection for her beautiful older sister and their palpable disappointment in their less-attractive second child. It centers on an episode made famous in Schiaparelli's autobiography—namely, when, around age 7, she was inspired to try to make herself more beautiful by planting flower seeds in her "ears, mouth, and nose" that then had to be removed by "two doctors." Says Schiap: "My plan flops, but a different kind of seed is planted… / …a seed of wild imagination." Here, as throughout the story, Morstad's delicate, detailed mixed-media illustrations masterfully expand on the text, showing a full-page close-up of the doe-eyed Schiap's face dwarfed by a dazzling garland of flowers, some of which are pointedly colored in what the adult Schiaparelli would later re-create as "shocking pink," which set the 1931 fashion world "spin[ning] with panic and delight."Not only a gorgeous portrayal of this 20th-century creative genius, but an empowering tale encouraging readers to "dare to be different." (author and illustrator's note, endnotes, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

The duo behind Julia, Child offers a bold first-person biography of designer Elsa Schiaparelli, beginning with her dreary childhood in Rome, where the bright colors of market flowers brought her joy in a family that dismissed her as ugly. Schiaparelli-s passion for color and beauty never waned, and Maclear describes how, as a single mother in Paris, Schiaparelli discovered a community of artists-including Meret Oppenheim and Salvador Dalí-who helped foster her artistic identity. Morstad-s vivid mixed-media have an imaginativeness to match Schiaparelli-s surrealistic designs (playing with a beloved uncle as a child, she soars amid the stars and planets of the cosmos) and feature splashes of Schiaparelli-s trademark shade of pink: -Bright, impossible, impudent, becoming, life-giving, like all the light and the birds and the fish in the world put together.- It-s a dramatic tribute worthy of its audacious subject. Ages 4-8. Author-s agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists. Illustrator-s agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Feb.)