André

Jeanne Walker Harvey
Feb 1
2 min read

André Leon Talley―

A Fabulously Fashionable Fairy Tale

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Illustration of a man in an orange coat on a blue background. Large yellow text reads André. Other text includes a book title and authors.

Henry Holt

(MacKids)

pub. 11.11.2025

56 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Authors: Carole Boston Weatherford

and Rob Sanders

Illustrator: Lamont O'Neal

Character: André Leon Talley

Overview:

"Growing up in the Jim Crow South wasn't easy for young André. He escaped into the glimmering worlds he discovered inside magazines like Ebony and Vogue. He fell in love with all things French, and honed his taste for elegance and style in spite of those who judged and bullied him. Standing tall against all odds, André spun his hardships into a fashion fairytale of his own making."

Tantalizing taste:

"Safe on a fake-fur bench in his pink bedroom, André read articles and met famous people - like Vogue magazine's editor Diana Vreeland. He tore pages from the magazine to paper his walls and to create his own fairy tale world, an escape form the harshness of the real one."

And something more: Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders in A NOTE from the AUTHORS explain: "André Leon Talley was a man who was bigger than life. His commanding presence, individualism, and groundbreaking work made André memorable to both of us. Because André was African American and gay, we felt that we could bring our two voices together to tell his story. We found it interesting that, as an adult, André described his life as a fairy tale. So, we've woven throughout this story familiar characters, objects and themes from fairy tales - a witch's cauldron, Alice in Wonderland tumbling into a new world, a dangerous forest, and more. We hope André's story will inspire readers who may be different, may not fit in, or may be marching to their own drummer. "