To the growing list of pint-size fictional fashionistas, add Isabella Ashley Parker McBride. Watts (Emily Goes Wild
) endows redheaded Isabella with "a style all her own"—she's comically soigné no matter what the occasion. For grocery shopping, Watts outfits the heroine in an eye-catching flour-sack-and-price-tag ensemble; for a visit to the dentist, a tooth-shaped purse and toothbrush hair accoutrements salute good dental hygiene; and while feeding pigeons in the park, Isabella sports a priceless polka-dot dress inspired by the Wonder Bread wrapper. A beloved cousin's wedding, however, presents a dilemma (one that will be familiar to many grown-up females): in order to be one of the 14 flower girls, Isabella must wear the same poufy pink dress as everyone else. What's a fashion diva with a strong streak of chic to do? This cunning little conceit almost gets lost within Friedman's (Mallory on the Move
) wordy prose. But every one of Watts's cheeky, extravagantly colorful ink-and-watercolor sketches speaks volumes about Isabella's effervescent character and, collectively, they carry the heroine through to her realization that it's okay to blend in every once in a while. On the final exuberant page, Isabella's sense of style re-emerges in what is clearly a personal best. Ages 3-9. (Feb.)
