Dresses Are For Messes

By Elizabeth Pulsford & Janet Samuel

File Mile 2026

Reviewed by Zewlan Moor  

Readers familiar with Elizabeth Pulsford’s rhyming texts will not be disappointed with her latest picture book, Dresses Are For Messes. Her previous titles include Boots, illustrated by Krista Brennan, also reviewed in StoryLinks.

The rhyme and metre are perfect, with a bouncy rhythm that reflects the energetic protagonist, Tess. Tess’s father admonishes her for not dressing suitably for a day of play, “You need a shirt and shorts to play.” But Tess wants to wear her favourite princess dress.

She demonstrates that pink tulle party dresses are eminently suitable for playing fetch, cartwheeling and tumble-turning with puppies. 

“Dresses are for puddle jumping, rainbow riding, bass drum thumping,

tree-top swinging, T-Rex stomping, lasso slinging, Wild Thing romping.” 

They’re perfect for messy activities such as digging for treasure, and the cosier weaving of friendship bracelets from the resultant mined gems. 

Tess’s thoughts and activities are illustrated in a style reminiscent of Marcel Marlier’s Debbie books (originally published in the French as the Martine books). Janet Samuel is a prolific UK illustrator, whose energetic lines and vibrant colours pop off the page. The magenta and orange colours give a retro vibe, and the aqua foil text on the cover adds retro glamour. The cover font has an upper-case “S” that looks like an “8”. It left me flummoxed for a while, thinking the illustrator must have been a hip Millenial with a cool name, like K-Fai Steele. “Janet 8amuel” has quite an exotic, futuristic feel . .  

Thematically, the rest of the book is a young girl’s articulate argument for the suitability and versatility of dresses as adventurous attire—all in rhyming couplets. Proving that Tess in a dress is a keen poetess! 

Disclaimer: Elizabeth Pulsford is a critique partner, but all opinions are my own and unsolicited.

Zewlan Moor is the author of Nothing Alike, The Bill Dup and Our World: Philippines. Her next book, Say Hello Like an Armadillo is out in the US/UK in June 2026 and Australia in Summer 2026-7. Pre-order or add it to your Goodreads Want To Read shelf now!