Dressy, yet Messy Jessie

This book appeals to the young, the adults, and the young-at-heart. From our own childhoods, experiences once related to acts of poor judgment caught between our need to please ourselves and obey adults. My books are designed to address the child in all of us; the child who ventures into the world, and sees it from their own unique perspective. In Dressy, yet Messy, a flower-girl at a wedding is dressed in her best finery. She is finished early; she is bored, and everyone, including her mother, is focused around her Aunt Ryu, the bride. Jessie is bored waiting by a window and sees a rainbow. She knows not to get dirty, and she is aware that she should remain indoors.

However, Jessie justifies in her mind that no one will ever know if she ventures outside to play. She does step outside out of boredom and temptation. “Oh no!” it starts to rain, and that wedding we are referring to starts in one hour! She gets drenched, and her clothes, hair, shoes and hose are now sopping wet. What to do? Jessie must face her mother, the bridal party attendants, and anyone can notice that she was irresponsible.

This story should elicit an adult’s association with either being that girl, or, perhaps parenting one. For the child reading this book, the fear, as well as the risk and possibility of misbehavior, with the ramifications of fixing the problem, is felt. Either way, through rhyme, life’s lessons are learned in childhood through humor and creativity. My books should serve as a teaching tool, both for teachers and parents alike in dealing with children in their conflicts of childhood.