Hannah and the Seven Dresses,/I> is an amusing, colourful book with a simple and satisfying story – just about the hardest kind to create. For her first picture book, Jocelyn (who’s a clothing designer and author of two fast-paced children’s novels) has made illustrations entirely from actual fabric instead of paint.

Hannah loves her dresses so much she feels overwhelmed by choosing which one to wear. Her plan to wear her red dress every Monday, the green one every Tuesday, and so on, works well at first but backfires when her birthday party falls on a Tuesday, and she decides the green one won’t do. She wears all seven dresses at the same time with impossible results. Finally, true to her nature, she comes up with a creative solution.

Hannah’s problem-solving ability, the seven days of the week, and the well-crafted fabric art make this book much more interesting to children than you might think at first glance. The very lack of backgrounds and the minimal but evocative facial expressions leave plenty of space for children to imagine for themselves. The soft toy elephant wearing the same outfits as Hannah, right down to polka dot underwear, is an appealing additional touch. The writing is delightfully child-oriented: “On Fridays she wore the gray dress with thirteen buttons down the front. Every button was different, and Hannah knew a story for each of them.” Hannah and the Seven Dresses could easily become a four- or five-year-old’s favourite book for awhile.