Written by: Marcus Ewert
Illustrated by: Rex Ray
For Ages: 5-9 years
Language: English
Topics Covered: Trans Youth Experience, Self-Acceptance, Acceptance, Family, Gender Identity.
Summary: This story covers Bailey, who dreams about dresses every night. She dreams of crystal dresses, of musical tinkling dresses that sparkle in the sun. When she wakes up, Bailey asks her mother to make her a dress like the one in her dreams. Bailey’s mother says that Bailey can’t wear dresses, because Bailey is a boy. Her mother tells her to go away, and not mention wearing dresses again. The next night, Bailey dreams of a dress made of flowers. She asks her father to make her a dress of lilies and roses. Bailey’s father tells her she is a boy, and to go away and not mention dresses. That night, Bailey dreams of a dress made out of windows. Bailey finds her brother and asks him to make her a dress made of windows, but he threatens to kick her and says it’s gross for a boy to dream about dresses. Bailey runs away from her brother, and runs past a house where a girl named Laurel is sewing on her front porch. Laurel tells Bailey that all of her dresses keep looking the same, and Bailey offers to help. Bailey tells Laurel about her idea for the window dress, and together they sew two dresses with mirrors all over them. Together, they dream of creating 10,000 dresses!
About the Author & the Illustrator:
Marcus Ewert‘s written work has appeared in a number of anthologies and other publications including the 2004 Lambda Literary Award winning non-fiction anthology I Do/ I Don’t. He has participated in the ‘Litquake Literary Festival‘ and the ‘Porch Light’ reading series, both held in San Francisco. He has appeared in such literary journals as Shampoo, Suspect Thoughts, Star*line, and For Immediate Release. He was co-editor (with Mitchell Watkins) of Ruh Roh, an anthology of artists’ work that included pieces by Kathy Acker, Allen Ginsberg, Gregg Araki, Clive Barker, Sadie Benning, Dennis Cooper, Mike Diana, G.B. Jones, Paul McCarthy, Gus van Sant, and many others. His first book 10,000 Dresses, illustrated by Rex Ray, was published by Seven Stories Press in September 2008. 10,000 Dresses was recognized by the American Library Association on the 2009 Rainbow Book List, as a Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Honorbook, and a 2008 Lambda Literary Award Finalist.
Rex Ray was an American artist best known for his innovative pop aesthetic in fine and commercial art—on canvases, wood panels, album covers, paper, book jackets, murals, and rock and roll posters. Born in Landstuhl, Germany in 1956, Michael Patterson was raised in Colorado Springs. Before moving to San Francisco in 1981, Patterson, inspired by Andy Warhol, adopted the moniker Rex Ray. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute where he studied with Sam Tchakalian, Kathy Acker, and Angela Davis, and received his BFA in 1989. He became a major force in the Bay Area’s art, literary, and activist communities. Ray’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Akron Art Museum; Berkeley Art Museum; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; MCA DENVER; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; San Jose Museum of Art; and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Several books including Cut & Paste, Rex Ray: Art + Design, and Information feature images with writings about his career and artistic practice.