Patrick Kelly Designs His Dreams
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Abrams Books for Young Readers
(pub. 1.13.2026)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Eric Darnell Pritchard
Illustrator: Shannon Wright
Character: Patrick Kelly
Overview:
" Patrick Kelly was one of the most influential fashion designers of the twentieth century, but growing up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he didn’t see many boys who liked to sew. That didn’t stop him from sitting down at his grandma’s table and picking up a needle and thread.
Patrick loved the way clothes could make someone feel their best, and he dreamed of creating designs full of joy and whimsy. Those dreams brought him to some of the biggest cities in the world, but when he got there, he was told that his clothes were too vibrant, too tacky, and too much!
When the fashion world rejected his designs, Patrick just laughed and carried right on working. He created clothes for people like him, outsiders who didn’t grow up fitting in but weren’t afraid to stand out. He filled his designs with love, and when the world finally recognized his talent, they couldn’t help but smile.
Tantalizing taste:
"He sewed so much his machine blew out the electricity in his apartment. But Patrick laughed and carried on as best as could.
With no machine he continued, hand sewing by candlelight.
Every week, the stage was filled with the bigget, wildest, most outrageous costumes Patrick could imagine.
And every night, the crowds shouted:
'Fantastique!'
'Magnifique!'
'Tres chic!'
And something more: Eric Darnell Pritchard shared in the Author's Note: "I hope that this book about Patrick's life and creations will always be there when you - or someone you know - needs the reminder that our dreams are achievable, that standing out is a superpower, that creating and sharing things that bring more joy to a sometimes sad, scary world is a choice we can make every day, and most of all, that Patrick Kelly loves you."
- Mar 20
The HIdden Discoveries of Eunice Newton Foote,
the First Climate Scientist
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Henry Holt and Compay
(MacKids)
(pub. 4.16.2026)
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Rebecca Donnelly
Illustrator: Mercè López
Character: Eunice Newton Foote
Overview:
" In an era when few women practiced science, Eunice Newton Foote dared to search for answers to a mystery that no one else had solved.
A visionary scientist, suffragist, and mother, Eunice conducted a groundbreaking experiment that uncovered the first clues about global warming. Defying the limitations society placed on her, she boldly pursued her hypothesis, paving the way for our modern understanding of climate change."
Tantalizing taste:
"Eunice's research was noted by Scientific American in an article titled 'Scientific Ladies'...She was the first person to prove that what we now call global warming is caused in part by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. It took more than 150 years for Eunice to receive credit for this work."
And something more: Why Wasn't Eunice's Work Recognized explains: "How can we judge her sphere? Should we say it was too small for her, or that she was ahead of her time? What we know for certain is that in the nineteenth century, only sixteen American women published physics papers in scientific journals. The two articles that came first? Eunice Newton Foote wrote them both."
The Story of James Boggs and
Grace Lee Boggs
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Carolrhoda Books
(Lerner)
pub. 11.4.2025
40 pages
Ages 7 -11
Author: Sun Yung Shin & Melina Mangal
Illustrator: Leslie Barlow
Character: James Boggs
and Grace Lee Boggs
Overview:
" James Boggs was a worker from rural Alabama in the segregated South. Grace Lee Boggs was a philosopher from urban Rhode Island and New York City. Both found their life’s work, and each other, in Detroit.
James and Grace were drawn to civil rights―and the labor, social, and political organizations through which people struggled for better living conditions for all.
What they created together was more than a marriage, it was a partnership. They fought with others for fair housing, jobs, food, labor unions, urban gardens, and more to make the world a better place for all. Their wide-ranging activism spanned the second half of the twentieth century."
Tantalizing taste:
"Many people
talk the talk,
but do they walk the walk?
James and Grace walked the talk.
They believed
in the power of ideas,
talking about them,
and thinking through
everything."
And something more: Notes from Sun Yung Shin explains: "I am privileged to have met Grace Lee Boggs in her Detroit home in 2004... In person, as on the page, her intellectual vigor and force of personality was immediately apparent. It was a singular experience to meet this urban Asian American woman philosopher who had lived through - and made - so much history and much of it within and with the Black community in Detroit."
