A Stitch Through Time

A speculative framework allows for an introduction to three Black fashion mavens—seamstress and author Elizabeth Keckley (1818–1907), designer Ann Cole Lowe (1898–1981), and milliner Mildred Blount (1907–1974)—as a Black child, Ava, moves through time with her aunt Jo, a “collector, adventurer, and world traveler.” Opening a wooden chest, Aunt Jo pulls out a quilt crafted from Keckley’s gowns, a dress made by Lowe, and a hat created by Blount, heading with her niece to scenes from their lives as Burke’s didactic prose provides biographical information: “Like Elizabeth Keckley, Ann Cole Lowe designed gowns for famous and wealthy women.” Crumpton offers boldly colored, digitally airbrushed illustrations, featuring figures of varying skin tones in this educational primer centering fashion. Ages 4–7. (Feb.)