We all have those special items of clothing that we love to wear over and over again. They mean something to us and we feel as if they define who we are. For young Lance, that item was his silly pants. He wore them everywhere he went and for everything he did. That and his big happy smile truly defined who he was. Or so he thought. When the silly pants really wore out, in fact there was nothing left of the vibrantly striped pants, he shed a tear and prayed for a replacement pair of silly pants. What he received the next morning was more than just a new pair of silly pants; it was a note from an angel who confessed that it wasn’t what Lance wore on the outside that made him special: “The way you are dressed and clothed from within,” the note read, “matters more than the clothes that cover your skin. You see, when you wear your smile and have the look of compassion you’ll be dressed in style and always in fashion.”

As children (and as adults), we have a lot to learn and nothing is more important than the lesson of how important we are from the inside out, not the outside in. This is the message that Jamie Sajewel expertly presents in the colorful picture book story, Lance and His Silly Pants. Written mostly in rhyming verse and accompanied by spectacular illustrations by Miranda Morrissey, this little gem of a story is sprinkled with love, compassion, and more than a dash of humor. An important message, well presented.

Lance and His Silly Pants is an educational picture book for children, written by Jamie Sajewel and illustrated by Miranda Morrissey. Lance loved his pants. It didn’t matter that they were silly pants, and maybe he loved wearing them just because they were silly; the fact remained that he did love them, and he wore them all of the time. Lance found they were the perfect clothing selection for swimming, relaxing in the yard on a hammock, or traveling in buses and trains. It didn’t matter if it was wintry cold outside or a sweltering summer day. Lance wore his silly pants regardless; they almost seemed to have become part of who he was. That made it even harder when, eventually, his silly pants were so worn out and tattered that they just fell apart. It was so hard for him to say goodbye to them, to accept that they’d no longer be a part of who he was. That night, he knelt down by his bed, and he began to pray, deeply and fervently, for a new pair of silly pants. Would his prayer be granted?

Jamie Sajewel’s educational picture book for children, Lance and His Silly Pants, is an entertaining and heartwarming tale about a boy with a well-developed sense of fashion. His silly pants were his clothing selection of choice, no matter what the occasion was. Sajewel’s story is marvelous, and I often found myself reading it aloud just to savor her sense of rhythm and choice of wording. This is a fast-paced story that keeps the reader’s attention as it follows Lance throughout his daily activities. Miranda Morrissey’s brilliant illustrations display Lance’s most amazing, and silly, pants in gorgeous, colorful panels that work so well with the story line. I especially loved the double panel which shows Lance gazing at the stars at night. The words of Sajewel’s wise angel sums up the theme of this whimsical tale most fully as the reader is guided to the fact that it was Lance himself we all so enjoyed following in the story all along. Lance and His Silly Pants is most highly recommended.