I always love learning about new women who made a difference in the world. Today I am sharing a new picture book (just released this week) about Diana Vreeland. Do you know about Diana Vreeland? I hadn't until I read this book. Diana Vreeland was a fashion diva. She was a fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar where she had her own advice column for the modern woman and then was the editor in chief at Vogue. Then she was a special consultant to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts. She was known for being eccentric and on the edge of fashion. To help kids learn about her, Violet Velvet Mittens with Everything: The Fabulous Life of Diana Vreeland by Deborah Blumenthal and illustrated by Rachel Katstaller is now available. It is recommended for ages four to eight.
From the Publisher:
This wonderful true story of iconic fashion editor Diana Vreeland teaches young readers that individuality is to be celebrated, and that even extraordinary dreams can come true.Violet Velvet Mittens with Everything captures the dramatic, spectacular world of fashion icon Diana Vreeland, whose legacy at Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art continues to influence the fashion world today. As a little girl in Paris, Vreeland loved to read and dance, and most of all dress up. Her love of originality persisted through her career in fashion, where her work was colorful, zany, and never, ever boring. Violet Velvet Mittens with Everything captures Vreeland's larger-than-life personality with an infectiously extravagant tone and style, showing young readers that above dazzling and daring, being yourself makes the most lasting impact of all.
From Me:
As I said in the introduction I love learning about women I haven't heard of but have made a mark in the world. Something I love about Diana Vreeland and this book is the emphasis on being an individual. I love how the book shares some of Diana's own struggles with looks and feeling accepted. Her own struggles brought her to push individuality in the magazines. It also helped maker her eccentric.
The book begins with her childhood. It shares a bit about her struggles with her mother and her looks. Her mother actually called her the ugly duckling of the family. Diana turned to makeup and dance. She also slowly developed her own sense of fashion and eventually got the job at Harper's Bazaar. There her eccentricity really showed and bloomed. Her advice column gave advice like wearing violet velvet mittens with everything among many fun ideas.
This book shares the life of a woman who taught other women to be themselves and accept themselves as they are. A woman who may be forgotten besides in her own fashion world if there was not a book like this one. And let's face it her lesson is an important one for all to hear!
At the end of the book there is a page with more details about Diana Vreeland. For the older child or adult this information shares much more about her life and her lifestyle. I hope you will check out this fun new book!
