But Mary persists and by the end of the book things change for the better as more girls choose to wear what is comfortable instead of what is prescribed by society (this message could apply to any gender as it wasn’t about gender at all for Mary, but about comfort). She is supported by her father, shunned and chased by other children, and picketed by the townspeople. She fought this construct, choosing a much more comfortable style of dress – pants! Using spare text and a palate of pinks and grays in cut-paper collage, Negley focuses on Mary’s childhood when she first chooses to make the switch.
Walker was born in the 1830s when women were expected to wear dresses. Inspired by an episode from the podcast The Memory Palace titled “Mary Walker Would Wear What She Wanted,” Negley created this picture book to share with the world Walker’s story and her message of wearing the clothes that make you feel the most comfortable. Published by Balzer + Bray on January 15th 2019 (Apr.Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley An afterword gives further details about Poul la Cour, a 19th-century Danish inventor. Negley has a gift for distilling action into kinetic lines and figures though readers won’t come away with an understanding of how wind turbines work, this maker story conveys the excitement of discovery and the simplicity of Poul’s innovative idea. Once the propellers are up, the wild blue girl takes to the air, and the townspeople stare open mouthed with amazement as the blades begin spinning. A boy named Poul sees her worth, understanding the possibilities that her power offers: “We just need to show them.” She stands right next to him as he studies the problem in various ways, then erects a great tower above the town’s buildings.
Negley ( Mary Wears What She Wants) animates his exploration of early wind power with breezy energy, drawing the wind as an exuberant blue girl in dungarees whose perpetual motion blows hats off, scatters leaves and flowers, and tangles kite strings: “Everyone thought the wild blue girl was a nuisance.” Crisp, confident colored pencil and collage artwork shows townspeople with their hair awry and their clothing askew as the girl tears through with a friendly smile on her face.
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