Mary Wore Her Red Dress

"In this adaptation of a Texas folk song, the illustrations show the story of Katy Bear's birthday party, while the repetitive verses are a catalog of what the guests wore. . . . The pictures pick up color as the guests arrive and the activities get livelier. To further focus attention on color, the words are printed in boxed insets of the appropriate hue. . . . The music-a simple, singable tune-is printed at the end. The subject and the highly predictable pattern of text have appeal for just-beginning readers as well as for preschool listeners and singers."-Language Arts