Clothes to Make You Smile: Patrick Kelly Designs His Dreams

Clothes to Make You Smile is a picture book biography about Patrick Kelly, one of fashion's most influential Black designers, joyously told by fashion expert and educator Eric Darnell Pritchard and beautifully illustrated by award-winning artist Shannon Wright.

Patrick Kelly was one of the most influential fashion designers of the twentieth century, but growing up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he didn't see many boys who liked to sew. That didn't stop him from sitting down at his grandma's table and picking up a needle and thread.

Patrick loved the way clothes could make someone feel their best, and he dreamed of creating designs full of joy and whimsy. Those dreams brought him to some of the biggest cities in the world, but when he got there, he was told that his clothes were too vibrant, too tacky, and too much!

When the fashion world rejected his designs, Patrick just laughed and carried right on working. He created clothes for people like him, outsiders who didn't grow up fitting in but weren't afraid to stand out. He filled his designs with love, and when the world finally recognized his talent, they couldn't help but smile.

This acclaimed picture book biography is a top 10 selection of the 2026 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

Eric Darnell Pritchard is an educator, scholar, writer and the endowed Brown Chair in English Literacy and Associate Professor of English at the University of Arkansas. They are also the founding Director of the Community Literacies Collaboratory, which supports literacy partnerships for children, adolescents, and adults in Arkansas and nationally. A lifelong lover of picture books and biographies, Clothes to Make You Smile is Eric's debut book for young readers.

Shannon Wright is an award-winning illustrator and cartoonist based out of Richmond, Virginia. Shannon was awarded a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor and a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book for Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes, written by Traci N. Todd. She tells personal and original stories invoking nostalgia rooted from her own childhood and life around her.

Review Quotes:

"Cheerful mixed-media illustrations layer angular painted paper collage with photographic elements like buttons and thread. The result is a fabulously tactile visual experience that pops off the page. A playful and poignant look at a designer who dressed the world in joy."--Kirkus Reviews

"This buoyant picture book biography decidedly looks good, with Wright's striking mixed media and Photoshop illustrations, collaged with buttons and thread in vibrant colors--a perfect fit with a story about a love of materiality and fashion. The focus on laughter through difficulties will remind even the non-fashion-focused kiddos that creating doesn't have to be painful."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Featuring a combination of fabric scraps, buttons, colored pencils, and miscellaneous ephemera, Wright's mixed-media artwork captures the essence of Kelly's dopamine-sparking aesthetic."--Publishers Weekly

"In its introduction of a fashion icon, this debut also offers representation of a gay Black man, uncommon in picture books...The illustrations are bright and vibrant, using button, yarn, acrylic paint, and colored pencil, among other materials in a way that is appropriately unique, setting this book apart."--Booklist

"Mixed-media collage illustrations perfectly complement Kelly's design aesthetic...This inspiring book is an affirmation of the power of being yourself and trusting in the importance of your unique contributions."--Horn Book Magazine

"A lively entry for biography sections, this is a vibrant addition to the collection of often-overlooked books about fashion and its messaging."-- School Library Journal

Ages: 4-8 years