DRESS LIKE MOMMY

Mother-and-daughter outfits—a retro fashion idea that continues to be popular in some households.

Poppy informs readers: “One of my favorite things is when the colors of our clothes match.” With digital illustrations that look as if they originated as collages, this color concept book introduces all the usual suspects, as well as several shades of blue and green, and even “multicolored” socks, that are “like swirly rainbows.” The layout of the double-page spreads with lots of white space is consistent, with slight variations. The emphasis on the mom figure is usually on her clothes, from the torso down; viewers see her face on only one page, where she wears “a jacket the color of the blue sea,” her face hidden behind “sunglasses big as dinner plates.” The type is easy to read, and a crayon scribble of the appropriate color always backgrounds the name of the color, printed in large, bold type. The clean look of the illustrations works well, especially in spreads such as the one devoted to “tangerine orange,” where Mommy’s shorts and Poppy’s “bicycle helmet matched!” The book breaks no new gender ground. In girly style, Poppy also imitates her mommy when she puts on “flamingo-feather blusher” and when she wears her mom’s extra beads. Both Mommy and Poppy present white.

An easy, breezy fashion-conscious way to learn colors, but it seems a little limited in its appeal, a throwback to an earlier time.