Violet Velvet Mittens with Everything: The Fabulous Life of Diana Vreeland

by Deborah Blumenthal, Rachel Katstaller (Illustrator)

Overview

A Bologna Ragazzi Award "100 Best Picture Books of the Year" selection

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.

(Although Violet Velvet Mittens with Everything is a tribute to the life of Diana Vreeland, the book is not authorized by her Estate)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781648960635
Publisher:	Princeton Architectural Press
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	727,158
Product dimensions:	8.35(w) x 11.75(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Deborah Blumenthal is the author of twenty-four books for children and adults, and an award-winning journalist. She lives in New York City with her husband and their rescue dog, Nellie.

Rachel Katstaller is a children's book illustrator who lives in the Austrian Alps with her cat, Hemingway, at her side.

Editorial Reviews

07/12/2021

The intimidatingly fabulous Diana Vreeland (1903–1989), 20th-century tastemaker and editor of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, breezily narrates this picture book tribute to her aesthetic achievements: “I turned fashion on its head, dreaming up stories of glamorous worlds.” Blumenthal’s Vreeland airily skims by biographical detail—the telling jumps from the figure’s youthful love of dance to becoming “the Empress of Fashion” in a single spread. Instead, the figure’s merrily madcap worldview dominates, building to a series of dazzling quotes from her legendary column, “Why Don’t You?” (“Have every room done up in every color green?”) Katstaller’s trendy, clean-lined illustrations decorously tidy Vreeland’s opulent world, taming the visionary wildness of her famous red room. Still, it’s a winsome, if partial, introduction to a style icon who chose to “never, ever boring.” Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Readers get a glimpse into the life of fashion icon Diana Vreeland in this picture book biography....The mixed media artwork is the star of the book. The bold colors pop and the stylistic design makes a nice counterpoint to the text."
- School Library Journal ,


“Violet, Velvet Mittens with Everything takes us on an extraordinary journey filled with colour, from Dianas' childhood in Paris to becoming the rule breaking Fashion Editor of Harpers Bazaar. In Dianas’ own words 'The Eye has to Travel' so feast your eyes on Rachel Katstaller's elegant and witty illustrations and let Deborah's delightful story inspire us all to be a little bit more FABULOUS!"
- Eva Byrne, author and illustrator of Along Came Coco: A Story about Coco Chanel,


"A gorgeously fun tribute to the one and only Diana Vreeland"
- Julie Morstad, author of BLOOM: The Story of Elsa Schiaparelli,


"The intimidatingly fabulous Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), 20th-century tastemaker and editor of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, breezily narrates this picture book tribute to her aesthetic achievements: “I turned fashion on its head, dreaming up stories of glamorous worlds.” Blumenthal’s Vreeland airily skims by biographical detail—the telling jumps from the figure’s youthful love of dance to becoming “the Empress of Fashion” in a single spread. Instead, the figure’s merrily madcap worldview dominates, building to a series of dazzling quotes from her legendary column, “Why Don’t You?” (“Have every room done up in every color green?”) Katstaller’s trendy, clean-lined illustrations decorously tidy Vreeland’s opulent world, taming the visionary wildness of her famous red room. Still, it’s a winsome, if partial, introduction to a style icon who chose to “never, ever [be] boring.”"
- Publishers Weekly,


"A fitting tribute to [Diana Vreeland's] fashion finesse."
- Booklist,


"This book does what the best picture book bios do: It makes the subject inviting while offering a path for young readers on how they might live their own lives. One of the more charming books of the year."
- School Library Journal Fuse 8 Blog,


“This book is a joy to read and to look at with each page  illustrated with  the most delightful and clever sketches.  Have fun and enjoy this book. You deserve it!”
- Fern Mallis, Creator of New York Fashion Week,


"This picture book biography captures the dynamic voice and dramatic sense of style of fashion icon Diana Vreeland, whose favorite color was 'RED RED RED.'"
- Washington Parent,

From the Publisher

11/01/2021

Gr 2–5—Readers get a glimpse into the life of fashion icon Diana Vreeland in this picture book biography. Born in Paris in 1903, Vreeland grew up surrounded by art, music, and design. She had a love of bright colors and bold makeup that led her to a career in fashion and writing a column for Harper's Bazaar called, "Why Don't You?" The column was filled with quirky fashion advice such as, "Why don't you wear violet velvet mittens with everything?" Using quotations from the column and Vreeland's autobiography, this book is written as if Vreeland is speaking directly to readers. With only a few sentences on each page, the biographical information is sparse. Instead, this reads like a conversation with Vreeland as she tells readers highlights from her life. An author's note fills in more details. Also included is a resource page for those wanting to know more about the fashionista. The mixed media artwork is the star of the book. The bold colors pop and the stylistic design make a nice counterpoint to the text. The palette of purples and reds reflect Vreeland's love of red lipstick and her suggestion to wear violet mittens. Included in the illustrations are cut-out collages of what appear to be newspapers or magazines. VERDICT Purchase to fill gaps in artsy picture book biography shelves.—V. Lynn Christiansen, Wiley International Studies Magnet Elem. Sch., Raleigh, NC

School Library Journal

2021-06-29
The life of fashion editor Diana Vreeland is explored in an imagined first-person voice.

This story of Vreeland’s rise to fame in the fashion industry begins with an anecdote from when she was 13. Her mother objects to her use of red fingernail polish, applied in an attempt to look like “an exotic princess.” (What precisely she meant by exotic is not explained.) Vreeland loves dressing up and dancing, and “things [a]ren’t always rosy” with her mother, a fact that’s fleshed out a bit more in the book’s backmatter. In an abrupt turn, readers learn that Vreeland becomes an “Empress of Fashion.” The narration continues, relating her preferences for eccentricity, “radiant colors” and their tones, and the color red; followed by her job at Harper’s Bazaar magazine; her Harper’s “Why Don’t You?” column; and her work at Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The text captures Vreeland’s unique vision, though it’s not clear if the text includes invented dialogue or exact quotes or a combination. Every image of Vreeland in these pages depicts her with the same stylized grin, and the palette lacks spark for such a fashion iconoclast: A spread, for instance, devoted to Vreeland’s love of the “right green—a spring green” is dominated by a dull olive-green shade. Backmatter includes resources for further reading. Katstaller includes women of color as models and other background characters in this story of the White fashion icon.

Not quite “violet” enough. (Informational picture book. 4-10)

Kirkus Reviews