Summary

From the award-winning creator of My Dad Used to Be So Cool and Tough Guys Have Feelings Too comes a charming picture book inspired by the true story of Mary Edwards Walker, a trailblazing 19th-century doctor who was arrested many times for wearing pants.

Once upon a time (but not that long ago), girls only wore dresses. And only boys wore pants.

Until one day, a young girl named Mary had an idea: She would wear whatever she wanted. And she wanted to wear pants!

This bold, original picture book encourages readers to think for themselves while gently challenging gender and societal norms.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Negley's strong-minded heroine is loosely based on Mary Edwards Walker, a trailblazing female physician born in 1832 who was "arrested repeatedly" for wearing trousers. The pint-size Walker hates wearing the "heavy-and-hot-and-hard-to-breathe-in dresses" of her era and believes that "the way things have always been" didn't have to stay that way. Negley's distinctive graphic style features clownlike figures and dominating splashes of shocking pink, blue, and yellow. When Walker sports a pair of pants and is maligned by disapproving townsfolk, she expresses her frustrations to her father, a sympathetic figure with an inky black beard and long silhouette. Sometimes all it takes is one courageous person to challenge the rules: to the girl's delight, other girls embrace wearing pants, too. Back matter provides a photo of Walker along with brief biographical content. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.