My New Shirt

Gregory Bryan is a member of the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

Let’s face it, at some point or another most young boys have been disappointed to open a present and discover that, rather than a toy or a game, the gift-wrap concealed an item of clothing. In My New Shirt, David can no longer conceal his disappointment at the fact that, Bubbie, his grandmother, always gives him a new shirt. Much to everyone but David’s distress, after David tosses his shirt out a window, the family dog, Pupik, seizes the shirt then proceeds to run away, dragging the shirt through a smorgasbord of stains in a muddy garden, a beauty salon, and a café.

Throughout the book, Dušan Petričić’s watercolour illustrations appear as if photographs pasted into a family album. Many of the illustrations convey movement and action, enhancing the chase that takes place once Pupik makes off with the shirt.

There is an undeniable slapstick comedy feel to the text and illustrations. Petričić and the author, Cary Fagan, seem both to have their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks in their approach to My New Shirt. Big-eared David has a comedic appearance, but he also has a charm about him that is irresistible. My New Shirt is told in the first person from the perspective of the character of David. David looks at his new, “bright white shirt,” with its stiff collar. He marvels that his parents really do seem to like the shirt. Poor David thinks, “How does a kid like me become a grownup like that?”


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