Stories about getting dressed can be very useful to toddlers. This is also a fun theme at storytime, where you can do several activities or crafts to reinforce the idea. One of my favorite activities is to sing “Mary Wore Her Red Dress,” which also gives you an opportunity to learn the names of the children. Of course, paper dolls can be an easy craft for this theme.
Chodos-Irvine, Margaret. ELLA SARAH GETS DRESSED. Ella Sarah wears unusual clothes combinations despite advice from her parents.
Daly, Niki. JAMELA’S DRESS. A young girl in Africa takes a piece of fabric to use as a cape, but her mother wants to use it to make a dress.
Fox, Mem. SHOES FROM GRANDPA. In this cumulative tale patterned after The House That Jack Built, Jessie receives various items of clothing.
Hutchins, Pat. YOU’LL SOON GROW INTO THEM, TITCH. As the youngest child, Titch always gets hand-me-downs to wear.
Jocelyn, Marthe. HANNAH AND THE SEVEN DRESSES. With a surprise ending, Hannah cannot decide which dress to wear for her birthday.
Kuskin, Karla. THE PHILHARMONIC GETS DRESSED. The members of the orchestra get dressed for a performance, from underwear to tuxedos.
London, Jonathan. FROGGY GETS DRESSED. Froggy gets dressed to play in the snow, but forgets essential pieces of clothing including his underwear!
Miller, Margaret. WHERE DOES IT GO? Illustrated with color photos, this guessing game includes items of clothing.
Neitzel, Shirley. THE JACKET I WEAR IN THE SNOW. This rebus story, patterned after The House that Jack Built, names items of clothing.
O’Connor, Jane. FANCY NANCY. Nancy loves fancy things, including dressing in a fancy way.
Taback, Simms. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. A very old overcoat is remade into several different garments in this Yiddish folksong.
Watanabe, Shigeo. HOW DO I PUT IT ON? GETTING DRESSED. Little Bear demonstrates the correct and the wrong way to put on several items of clothing.
Wells, Rosemary. MAX’S DRAGON SHIRT. Max and Ruby go shopping at the department store, where Max finds the perfect shirt.
Willems, Mo. NAKED MOLE RAT GETS DRESSED. Mole Rat wants to convince others that it is okay to wear clothes.
Also see the previous Getting Dressed storytime ideas page from September 2000.