Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress

March 10, 2014
Baldacchino debuts with a sensitive story that joins books like My Princess Boy and Jacob’s New Dress on a growing shelf of titles that offer support and understanding to gender-nonconforming boys. Baldacchino’s redheaded hero loves wearing the tangerine dress in his classroom’s dress-up center: “It reminds him of tigers, the sun and his mother’s hair.” A significant part of the book’s strength lies in the author’s portrait of Morris as a boy with much more to him than what he wears: Morris likes painting, puzzles, running around outside, and pretending to be an astronaut—the dress is just one of many things he enjoys. His classmates aren’t so accepting, and Baldacchino doesn’t sugarcoat the teasing and isolation Morris endures. Working in charcoal, watercolor, and other media, Malenfant (Once Upon a Balloon) showcases Morris’s full emotional spectrum: the joy the dress brings him, the hurt his peers’ taunts inflict, the refuge he finds at home with his quietly supportive mother, and the satisfaction that accompanies his success in helping two classmates understand that “it didn’t matter if astronauts wore dresses or not.” Ages 4–7.

Starred review from April 15, 2014
Young Morris definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer. He likes his mom and his cat and lots of school activities. He especially enjoys the dress-up center, where he chooses a tangerine-colored dress that reminds him of "tigers, the sun and his mother's hair." The dress also makes delightful sounds as he moves, and when he adds shoes that click, his joy is complete. None of this sits well with the other kids, who tease and ostracize him, leaving him isolated. One lonely Friday, hurt and upset, he pretends a tummy ache and stays home from school. Supported by his mother's soothing, calming encouragement, he reads, dreams, and paints wild and wonderful adventures with blue elephants and spaceships. When he returns to school, tangerine dress and all, he wins over his classmates with his imaginative play and his new self-confidence. Baldacchino treats the tricky and controversial subject of expected gender behaviors and bullying with care and compassion, employing language and tone that avoid histrionics or preaching. Morris is a complex character whose creativity and personality shine. Malenfant's lively and colorful illustrations, rendered in an unusual mix of charcoal, watercolor, pastel and Photoshop, are appealing and eye-catching and clearly depict Morris' difficulties, dreams and triumphs. An opportunity for a cozy read-together and a lively discussion. Sensitive and reassuring. (Picture book. 4-8)

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March 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1-Throughout this heartening story, touches of tangerine point to the elements in Morris's world that are important to him: his mother's flaming tresses; his cat, Moo; and a dress from the school dress-up box. When he wears it, he feels wonderful. White is a well-chosen background foil for Malenfant's watercolors and charcoals; the soft acrylics comprising the vibrant dress "bleed"-a perfect effect for indicating movement. A marvelous spread shows Morris reveling in the color that swirls across the gutter as he thinks about his mother's hair, tigers, and the sun. The text details the fabric's swishes and crinkles and the click of the boy's heels. When the children tease and ostracize him, he pretends not to notice, but by Friday, he stays home with a stomachache. The role of adults is particularly well handled. There is no deus ex machina (teacher intervention), a situation that rings true for many such interactions. His mother does not pass judgment when she notices a boy wearing a dress in her son's painting, and she complies with his desire for nail polish. This support and Morris's irrepressible imagination buoy him as he returns to school, where his creative spaceship is a magnet for the boys; walls begin to crumble. Baldacchino offers an alternative model for families to the one depicted in Marcus Ewert's 10,000 Dresses (Seven Stories, 2008), and rather than presenting an overt message about gender identity, the book provides a subtle and refreshing glimpse at a boy who simply likes to dress up.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
Preschool-G Morris likes to do lots of things at school: paint, do puzzles, drink apple juice, and sing. Most of all, he likes wearing a tangerine dress from the dress-up center. He likes the color, the swishing noises the dress makes when he walks, and the crinkle, crinkle, crinkle when he sits down. Sometimes the boys and girls make fun of him and ostracize him, refusing to sit with him or let him ride in their spaceship. When Morris draws a picture of a safari adventure and shares it at school, Eli and Henry still won't let him on their spaceship, so Morris builds his own and hangs his painting on the front of it. Intrigued, the boys follow Morris to a planet they had never visited before and decide that it doesn't make any difference if astronauts wear dresses. Like Sarah and Ian Hoffman's Jacob's New Dress (2014), Baldacchino's gentle story sensitively depicts gender nonconforming children, offering them reassurance and, one hopes, acceptance by introducing other children to the concept. An excellent book for discussion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)