I have a niece who LOVES her wardrobe. She loves clothes, shoes, hats, purses, sunglasses, jewelry, hair baubles - if you can put it on your body, she can make it look cute. She's four, so everything looks cute on her :) She changes her clothes a zillion times a day to make good use of all of her amazing items.
As soon as I read the first few pages of Shoe-la-la, I knew it was destined to be one of her Aunt Carrie's Book of the Month Club offerings.
The story unfolds in rhyming verse about 4 little girls getting ready to attend a party. They pick out their dresses, do their hair, but can't seem to find the perfect pairs of shoes for the big soiree. So they venture out to Shoe-La-La, their local footwear establishment.
They cannot believe how many shoes there are for them to try on and the poor shopkeeper can hardly keep up with their insatiable appetite. They try on shoes of all colors, styles and patterns, declaring, "We love this place!" The girls keep the salesman busy until closing time but still cannot decide which pair of shoes they each want. Sadly for Mr. Shoe Salesman, they are overwhelmed by their choices and go home empty-handed.
At home, they rack their brains for shoe ideas and in the corner of the picture, we see one of the girls holding one of her comfy old shoes in her hand, wheels turning. The next illustration fills both pages and shows all four girls on the floor, newspaper covering the floor and all sorts of crafting supplies spread over their work space, each girl creating intently.
They ultimately end up wearing their comfortable old shoes which have been bedazzled to each girl's liking. "Perfect party shoes to wear!"
Such a cute story! Before anyone suggests that this book teaches children to behave abominably in shoes stores or encourages rampant consumerism (I've read some appalling criticisms of the Fancy Nancy series) - stop. The book is fun and cute and that's that. Karen Beaumont understands little girls who love to dress up, and Vietnamese illustration LeUyen Pham created fun, feminine illustrations that draw the reader right into the girls' adventure.
A great addition to your home library. Your little fashionista will look a the pictures for hours and she'll probably want to create her own pair of party shoes, so be prepared to break out her old sneakers, your glue gun, and lots of ribbon, lace and glitter. Have fun!
Scholastic's book trailer
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