When was the last time you dressed up? These past few months, I’ve resided mostly in pajamas, running shorts, sports bras and tank tops, and mai *newly* discovered favorites: bike shorts. With the hot summer weather finally here in SoCal, occasionally I’ll throw on a summer/beach dress for mai one weekly outing to the grocery store (now a mini highlight of the week). However, I’m not complaining~ I thrive in mai comfort clothes.

The only time I do dress up now: Bookish Dress Up. As you may have noticed from mai content, I enjoy photographing with the book. Mai reasoning: mai content style is to take a photo with the book, so that books become associated with a shared reading experience with a family member or friend, rather than an isolated experience. Matching my outfit to the book is an added fun bonus! So for now~ the only time you’ll find me dressed up in any article of clothing other than the aforementioned~ is with a book in hand!

Check out this selection of Bookish Character Costumes (click on the image below for some tiktok book-dress up fun)~ with more details and a sneak peek of each featured book below. Follow @MaiStoryBook on TikTok for more bookish fun!

Featuring

What Should Darla Do? by Air and Ganit Levy, Illustrated by Doro Kaiser

If you are familiar with the What Should Danny Do? The Power to Choose Series, this is the newest addition featuring a female protagonist: Darla. This is interactive storytelling at its finest~ with readers having a direct impact on the outcome of the story. Throughout the book, readers are given choices to help Darla make decisions. Based on their choices, readers are directed to a specific page to see the consequences and outcomes of their decisions. With multiple alternate endings, this book features 8 stories in 1. Join Darla, a spunky astronaut-in-training Her goal is to go to Mars one day. In order to achieve her dreams, she will need to exercise her Power to Choose wisely. Read along to help Darla make positive choices!

Who’s Got Game? Baseball: Amazing But True Stories by Derrick Barnes, Illustrated by John John Bajet

Got Game? Superfans of baseball won’t want to miss out on these *amazing but true* stories from baseball lore. This lively collection of pivotal players, sensational stories, radical records, and colossal comebacks in baseball history celebrate the unsung people and stories who helped shape the game of baseball. Read about the four African American players who integrated white teams *decades before* Jackie Robinson. Discover the time when 17-year-old female Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and did you know that Japanese superstar Sadaharu Oh has 113 more career homers than Hank Aaron? For more baseball sensations, check out this fact-packed read!

Ordinary Mary’s Positively Extraordinary Day by Emily Pearson, Illustrated by Fumi Kosaka

This is an inspiring story of the power of kindness~ how one deed of kindness can have a chain effect of positivity. Join Ordinary Mary~ an ordinary girl at an ordinary bust heading to her ordinary school~ as she makes a new friend with one act of kindness. As the school day continues, Mary share courage and kindness with her peers, inspiring other’s to follow suit. This book empowers littles to believe that one small act of kindness can change the world. Even ordinary deeds can have a significant impact!

Down Under the Pier by Nell Cross Beckerman, Illustrated by Rachell Sumpter

I grew up by the beach, and summer wasn’t complete without evening bonfires down by the pier and an ocean swim under the stars, the waves lit by the pier lights and full moon. Days consisted of walking the length of the pier, marveling at the buckets of fish from the local fisherman casting their lines from the pier deck. Afternoons were spent *down under the pier*: chasing each other around the pier poles, curiously investigating the mollusks that grew where the water splashed against the pillars, dipping in and out of the waves as we drifted precariously close to the pier. This book captures the essence of this summer~ beach time thrill and thrall. While the top of the pier offers breathtaking ocean views, it’s *down under the pier* that the real magic and fun happens. The dreamy, hazy color palette and lyrical text capture the joy of the ferris-wheel, cotton candy, copper coins, carousels, and low tide shenanigans that are harbored below the pier. This poetic read is an ode to an *endless summer.*

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So, mai Friends, what bookish dress up will you partake in this week?

*~I’d love to  see and hear about your own Bookish Dress Up this week, so please share your reading selections and outfits below in the comments – tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary  – post on MaiStoryBook’s FaceBook page – Email MaiStoryBook – or join me for an Interactive Read Aloud on MaiStoryBook Youtube!~*

*This post contains affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, 5% of your purchase will go to MaiStoryBook to help create Reading Resources for your littles*

*~Until Next Time, Happy Reading~*