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The Boy in the Dress

Twelve-year-old Dennis is fascinated by fashion. When he lets his appreciation for Vogue magazine slip out to Lisa, an older girl and aspiring fashion designer at his school, she invites him over to see her designs. It doesn’t take too much urging from Lisa for Dennis to try on her most recent creation. “He felt so happy that he wanted to dance.” The two hatch a hilarious plan for Dennis to attend school as Denise, Lisa’s French friend. Everything goes fine until Lisa’s French class, when they realize that French is a language neither Dennis nor Denise can speak. The ruse revealed, Dennis is ridiculed by fellow students and expelled by the humorless headmaster. At home, his puzzled and angry father confiscates the only picture Dennis has of his mother, who left two years before. But more than one surprising turnabout is in store in a novel that is both over-the-top and tender. Dennis’s genuine pleasure in cross-dressing is sensitively portrayed in the midst of a story full of quirky, entertaining characters and absurdly enjoyable scenarios, including a climactic soccer game in which Dennis and his teammates storm the field in drag. Illustrations by Quentin Blake capture the blithe spirit of David Walliams’s refreshing debut. © Cooperative Children's Book Center

Illustrated by Quentin Blake

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 9-13
Age Range: Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10) Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format: Novel
Subjects: Bullying and Teasing Families Friendship School
Diversity subject: Gender Nonconformity

Publishers: Penguin, Razorbill
Publish Year: 2009
Pages: 240
ISBN: 9781595142993

CCBC Location: Fiction, Walliams

The Boy in the Dress