Dream a Dress, Dream a Poem: Dressmaker and Poet, Myra Viola Wilds

“Dream a world, dream a time,/ and the story of a girl./ Dream Myra Viola Wilds/ dressmaker long ago.” Mellifluous verse from Johnson James chronicles the life of dressmaker and poet Wilds (1875–1935) from the Kentucky town “where dreams went unfulfilled” to a city where she eventually soars. There, Wilds becomes a dressmaker of formal frocks “fancy, frilly, even funny,/ looking sweet like flowery honey.” The close work damages her eyesight, but “Myra’s art could still be made,” her medium turning from dressmaking to poetry. In stunning saturated colorblock illustrations that foreground Wilds’s work and transformation, Ejaita plays with scale and proportion. Characters appear in colorful silhouettes. More about the figure, and two of her poems, is included. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)