Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress – Written by Christine Baldacchino, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant
Groundwood Books

Morris Micklewhite is an energetic little boy who loves pancakes, puzzles, apple juice, and most of all, the tangerine dress in the dress-up center at his school.  He says it reminds him of “tigers, the sun and his mother’s hair.”  His classmates don’t understand this and tell him that dresses are only for girls.  To make matters worse, the boys refuse to let Morris join them on their spaceship as long as he wears the tangerine dress.  By the end of the week, Morris has a tummy ache.  He stays home in bed over the weekend and his imagination soars.  He envisions being on a space safari where he sees blue elephants and small tigers the color of the sun.

Morris wants to share his amazing adventure with his friends, so he decides to paint what he saw.  On Monday, Morris returns to school with his painting, puts on his tangerine dress and decides to post the painting on the spaceship.  Intrigued, his classmates are drawn into his imaginary play.  Morris happily includes all who want to play, and also happily continues to wear the swishy, crinkly tangerine dress.  Isabelle Malenfant’s pictures beautifully capture the range of emotions in the children, as well as showcase Morris’ masterpiece, and of course, the beloved tangerine dress.

Possible discussion pathways:

• Gender stereotypes
• Accepting our friends and classmates when they are different from us
• What are different ways of being brave?
• How do we build communities that support diversity and different points of view?
• How do the pictures help us understand Morris?