Sylvia Jean, Drama Queen (review)

For Sylvia, a young pig, it's all about the clothes, and she has the perfect costume for every occasion. She dresses as a nurse when her father is sick, a superhero ("They're brave and have sparkly smiles") when she has to go to the dentist, the Statue of Liberty to welcome a new student to school. When the owner of the local costume shop announces a contest, the pressure is on. Everyone has high expectations for Sylvia, including Sylvia herself, and she finds herself despairing for want of an idea for the perfect costume. Finally, she thinks of the perfect thing and wins a year's supply of her preferred fanciful wardrobe. Sylvia's angst is perfectly believable, and her solution (to come as herself) is as elegant as it is predictable. The muted, monotonal shades of peach, green, blue, and purple match the piggy flesh tones and manage to keep a lid on the frenzy of Sylvia's dynamic approach to everyday life; the spreads have a comic-book logic to them as Ernst picks out text and various actions to highlight in framed boxes, but their outlines are done in rickrack squiggles in keeping with Sylvia's textile fetish. The various characters have no distinguishing features other than their clothing, further emphasizing the joke of Sylvia's standout wardrobe and the inability of people to recognize her without a costume. Sylvia's dilemma will entertain kids who like to be a little different and inspire those with a passion for fashion.