The Pink Party ~ by Maryann Macdonald

When my daughter took me upstairs to the bedroom the night I stayed at her house, there were five of Raegan's picture books on the bed.  She moved them, but I asked which was "best" so I could read it for my book blog.  She picked The Pink Party by Maryann Macdonald, illustrated by Abby Carter, 1994, so I read it first.  Oh, my!  I opened the book to discover it's "from Grandmama Bonnie"!  I didn't remember giving Raegan the book, but upon closer inspection, I saw the rest of what I printed inside:  "To Kenzie with love from Grandmama Bonnie, July 14, 1995."  That means I read that very same book 19 years ago, and gave it to my granddaughter Kenzie when she was five years old.  The same age Raegan is now.  What a coincidence that it was on the bed that night — and that my daughter chose IT as the best of the five.

It's a cute book, and it has a good story line about being friends.  But I'm confused by this summary from Amazon.com:

"Rose and Valentina both love pink.  But whenever Rose gets something pink, Valentina gets something even pinker!  Rose secretly thinks Valentina is becoming a show-off, but she’s afraid to tell her.  When Valentina gives the pinkest party ever, Rose can’t keep quiet any longer.  She says what she thinks, and both friends decide that not everything is perfect in pink.  Originally published as a chapter book by Hyperion Books for Children in 1994, the text has been reimagined as a picture book.  Check out the glitter on the cover and throughout the interior."

I'm confused because the 1994 version I had in hand was plainly a picture book and not a "chapter book" — and I'm happy to report there never was any glitter on the original.  (I would never have bought such a book.)  The newer version is illustrated by Judy Stead, but I prefer the illustrations by the original artist, Abby Carter.  For one thing, the girls in the original wear jeans sometimes, not always cute pink dresses.  In other words, they were like real girls.

My rating:  The Pink Party by Maryann Macdonald, illustrated by Abby Carter, 1994, children's, 10/10.