When
Irene’s mother, the dressmaker Mrs. Bobbin, falls ill and can’t deliver the
duchess’s new ball gown to the palace, Irene declares she will deliver it
despite the impending snowstorm. “I love
snow,” Irene insists, dressing warmly after carefully packing the pretty dress
into a big box. She sets out across the landscape, box on her tiny shoulder, as
the wind gets stronger and the snow deeper. In fact, the wind tells Irene to
“…go hooooooome…” but she remains resolute in her intent to deliver the gown.
Sadly, the wind succeeds in ripping the gown out of the box and sending it
fluttering away. Irene is left to continue on through the raging storm, despite
a twisted ankle and nightfall, in order to reach the palace and explain what
happened. Just as she asks herself “how long a small person could keep this
struggle up,” dawn arrives, the palace is in sight and, miraculously, the ball
gown has been left by the wind on a nearby tree. Happily, Irene delivers the
gown to an overjoyed duchess, enjoys a glorious evening at the ball, and is
returned safely home by horse-drawn sleigh to her loving mother. Brave Irene is one of William Steig’s
masterful picture books, almost mythic in its storyline with its plucky heroine
demonstrating where there’s a will there’s a way. Steig’s illustrations are
captivating. Ages 4-8.
