ALA Booklist (Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 1998)

Velvet takes things in stride, but other children find her strange, with her Pippi-Longstocking pigtails, candy-cane stockings, purple velvet dress, and huge wire-rim glasses. On the first day of school she brings the teacher seven rocks, red shoelaces, and a broken bird egg; and she carries her lunch in a used paper bag. She isn't picked for partner play, and no one will walk home with her. Even so, she endures, always with a winning smile, until things gradually begin to change for the better. King's vivid, charmingly distorted illustrations portray each child as singular--a boy with a mouth full of braces, a prim girl with an attitude problem, a child with Coke-bottle glasses--with Velvet the most distinctive of all. The lively art combines with the old-fashioned theme of accepting differences to give this book undeniable appeal. (Reviewed November 1, 1998)

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1999)

On the first day of school, all of the kids find Velvet odd, but after they've gotten used to her imaginative ways, they realize that perhaps she isn't so odd after all. With their skewed perspectives and large-headed characters, newcomer King's lively, offbeat pencil and pastel illustrations make the text's obvious message of tolerance a little easier to swallow.

Kirkus Reviews

Two newcomers celebrate oddity and making do with less in this story of a girl named Velvet. Unlike her peers, she wears hand-me-downs, carries her lunch in a brown paper bag, owns only eight crayons, and brings a milkweed pod instead of a doll for Show-and-Tell. Gradually her differences are seen as advantages when she wins a class drawing contest and successfully entertains her classmates at an innovative birthday party. It's unfortunate that all of Velvet's "odd" qualities seem to stem from having less than her classmates, who give the teacher nicer gifts, wear new clothes, and carry store-bought lunch pails_the point is as strong without emphasizing economic differences. Crayola-bright illustrations rely on the exaggeration of facial features for effect_eyeglasses as large as Velvet's face, a boy whose piano-sized smile sports braces. The story lands where it was headed; different is not odd when it's understood. (Picture book. 4-7)

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

This inaugural picture book for both author and artist features an oddball girl whose differences teach her classmates to appreciate their own unique qualities. On the first day of school, while the other children bring the teacher cinnamon tea and potpourri, Velvet offers """"an egg carton filled with seven rocks, her favorite red shoelaces, and a half a sparrow's egg."""" Velvet sports long red braids, enormous round glasses and candy-striped stockings, and when the children notice that she is not wearing a new dress, they point and laugh: """"Where did she come from?"""" But the taunting never gets out of hand, thanks to the author's restraint and pictures that exaggerate the features of all the schoolchildren. King's double spreads play with shifts in proportion, conveying a sense of Velvet's isolation. In an especially effective spread of a field trip, Velvet sits alone on the bus explaining how she got her name as the scene outside emulates her description of the day she was born: """"The sun was just rising over the mountains, and outside it looked as though the world had been covered with a blanket of smooth, soft, lavender velvet."""" Her classmates' attitude toward Velvet changes when she wins a school drawing contest, and her """"oddness"""" is finally appreciated. This one's for anyone who feels different or who knows someone who's different; everyone will recognize Velvet . Ages 3-8. (Oct.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-From the first day of school, Velvet's classmates think that she is strange. When the other girls bring their dolls for show-and-tell, she brings a milkweed pod. With her purple dress, huge glasses, and peppermint-stick tights, this girl is clearly too odd to be picked as a play partner-or a friend. But slowly, her unique characteristics-her rock collection, her ability to draw lovely pictures with only the eight basic crayons-seem more interesting than strange, and a wonderful birthday party at her house cements the other children's acceptance of this imaginative child. Though the moral is pretty obvious, it doesn't detract from this lighthearted story about a youngster who is different. Color-pencil-and-pastel illustrations show the winsome Velvet and her classmates with exaggerated expressions and from a variety of perspectives. Both the artwork and the writing save the story from becoming too saccharine. A promising debut for both author and illustrator, and a commendable addition to libraries.-Tana Elias, Meadowridge Branch Library, Madison, WI