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Overview
A little girl needs new shoes. There are hundreds of pairs of shoes in the shoe store, but they're all the same dull brown or grey — all except one pair. They’re red. Bright red. Fire engine red! And they’re exactly what the little girl wants. But how can she convince her mother and the skeptical sales clerk? Simple, lyrical text and charming watercolor illustrations combine to create a delightful picture book that shows how bright, colorful things can lift one’s spirits. Set in the 1960s, this book also shows young readers the fashions of the era.
Synopsis
A little girl needs new shoes. There are hundreds of pairs of shoes in the shoe store, but they're all the same dull brown or grey — all except one pair. They’re red. Bright red. Fire engine red! And they’re exactly what the little girl wants. But how can she convince her mother and the skeptical sales clerk? Simple, lyrical text and charming watercolor illustrations combine to create a delightful picture book that shows how bright, colorful things can lift one’s spirits. Set in the 1960s, this book also shows young readers the fashions of the era.
Publishers Weekly
Hans Christian Andersen and ballet movies notwithstanding, the red shoes of this title carry no stern message. Holding her mother's hand, a narrator trudges reluctantly to a city shoe store: "My feet huff, puff/ like two tired trains." Spires (My Mom Loves Me More Than Sushi) deftly captures the girl's sour mood, which brightens when she spots the standout ruby slip-ons amid countless nondescript gray and brown numbers. That same muted palette, used predominantly, and several bird's-eye perspectives of exaggeratedly tall shoe-filled shelves emphasize her challenging task: persuading her mother (on so different a plane that her face is never seen) and a dour saleswoman to allow her to try on the "happy apples/ waiting to be picked." Spare text and 1960s fashions lend a subtle sophistication of bygone days when shopping trips required white gloves and dresses. Any child who's ever begged for the least sensible shoes in the store (and later worn them to bed) will definitely relate. Ages 4-8. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Hans Christian Andersen and ballet movies notwithstanding, the red shoes of this title carry no stern message. Holding her mother's hand, a narrator trudges reluctantly to a city shoe store: "My feet huff, puff/ like two tired trains." Spires (My Mom Loves Me More Than Sushi) deftly captures the girl's sour mood, which brightens when she spots the standout ruby slip-ons amid countless nondescript gray and brown numbers. That same muted palette, used predominantly, and several bird's-eye perspectives of exaggeratedly tall shoe-filled shelves emphasize her challenging task: persuading her mother (on so different a plane that her face is never seen) and a dour saleswoman to allow her to try on the "happy apples/ waiting to be picked." Spare text and 1960s fashions lend a subtle sophistication of bygone days when shopping trips required white gloves and dresses. Any child who's ever begged for the least sensible shoes in the store (and later worn them to bed) will definitely relate. Ages 4-8. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.School Library Journal
K-Gr 2
Shopping for shoes, a little girl knows that her mother will pick the practical, very dull, lace-ups. Even the palette that Spires uses is dark and drab, and the child's body language screams disappointment. But when she gets to the store, she sees the most wonderful pair of red shoes and wants them more than anything. "The red shoes are happy apples, waiting to be picked," the text reads. But moms don't tend to give in easily, and the youngster tries on dreary shoe after shoe after shoe. In the end, the bored clerk brings out the red shoes and the girl virtually flies through the air with delight. Mother and daughter have a special moment at tucking-in time, and readers see the little girl with the red shoes sticking out from under the covers. This sweet story will appeal to little girls who count shoes as something very important indeed.-Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA