The Story of Movie Costume Designer Edith Head
July 1, 2022
How Edith Head became a famed Hollywood costume designer. Growing up in the Nevada desert with her mother and mining engineer stepfather, young Edith longed for less solitude and more bustle. While she made the most of her circumstances, asking for fabric scraps from townspeople and sewing little outfits for dolls and pets, Edith wanted more. Going to high school in Los Angeles, she discovered Hollywood movies, and in those, Edith found the life of glamour she craved. After college, she became a teacher but eventually worked her way into costume design. After persevering through more than a few setbacks (which are mentioned but not explored in depth), Edith became a highly regarded Academy Award-winning movie costume designer. Edith's life was much more intriguing than the bland treatment given by this picture book, which has a flat-footed, predictable rhythm. The mixed-media illustrations, mostly double-page spreads, reflect the text faithfully but do not amplify the storyline. Readers will be left with a feeling of mild respect for Edith's accomplishments but little else. An author's note offers a bit more detailed information (her master's degree from Stanford, her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame). Edith was White; some secondary characters are illustrated with brown skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.) This trailblazing female costume designer deserves a stronger story with more depth. (selected sources) (Picture-book biography. 4-6)
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Starred review from July 1, 2022
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* Hollywood costume designer Edith Head may not seem like an obvious choice for a children's biography, but she quickly proves herself an ideal subject, largely due to how well Harvey anchors the story in Head's childhood. As an only child living in an isolated house in the desert, little Edith combated loneliness through imagination and creativity. She held tea parties for toys and made outfits for the animals her family owned. She gathered scraps of fabric, from which she "made sofas for pet toads . . . [and] created hats for the desert cactus." Edith progressed to making costumes for her childhood friends' plays and fell in love with Hollywood films after moving to Los Angeles for high school. Head's own path to working in the movies wasn't direct or smooth, but Harvey highlights the determination, self-confidence, and talent that got her there (and earned her multiple Academy Awards for costume design). Pattern, texture, and design are key in Toledano's mixed-media artwork, which often uses white backgrounds to emphasize Head's passion for these very elements, and the charming, childlike quality of the illustrations will appeal greatly to young readers. Together, the art and storytelling capture Head's belief in the transformative magic of costumes, which will certainly strike a chord with dress-up enthusiasts. An author's note supplies further information on Head's life.
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August 29, 2022
Film costume designer Edith Head (1897–1981) takes center stage in this celebratory narrative of her path to becoming an Academy Award winner. The account begins with Head’s lonely early years in a desert mining town, where her “greatest treasure was her bag of fabric scraps,” and she yearned for “people and sounds and dazzling sights.” After a high school move to Los Angeles ignites her passion for cinema, Head lands in a film studio costume department. Taking a broad-brush approach, Walker Harvey describes the figure’s determination and persistence as she develops her design skills, transitioning from creating costumes for animals to those for famous actors. Toledano’s mixed-media artwork, which portrays Head with paper-white skin and large glasses, fittingly features a range of patterns that draw attention to her professional creativity. Combined with starry-eyed prose, the result is a glamorous life story with a Hollywood ending. An author’s note and sources conclude. Ages 3–8.