Cute and col­or­ful, the books in the My Design Sketch­book series fea­ture sim­ple but clever step-by-step direc­tions to draw­ing dif­fer­ent cloth­ing styles that are ​“mod­est” while still remain­ing fash­ion­able. Though note­book-sized, each book includes col­ored illus­tra­tions, col­or­ing fig­ures, draw­ing tuto­ri­als, starter sketch­es and a sheet of stick­ers with acces­sories like belts, hand­bags and sunglasses. 

With a spi­ral-note­book, sketch­pad appear­ance, these books are a great way to enhance cre­ativ­i­ty and unique per­son­al style. The friend­ly inter­ac­tive tuto­r­i­al for­mat fea­tures ample space to per­son­al­ize and explore; read­ers can make their sketch­book as sophis­ti­cat­ed or as sim­ple as they’d like. Begin­ners will have fun col­or­ing in and adorn­ing their draw­ings with stick­ers, while more seri­ous artists can hone in on the more detailed aspects of design like tex­ture and shad­ing. There are also pages labeled ​“advanced” fea­tur­ing more detailed how-to instruc­tions such as shad­ing tech­niques and hair and facial fea­ture drawing.

While the premise of mod­est fash­ion is geared towards more tra­di­tion­al Jew­ish fam­i­lies, there is no men­tion of reli­gion what­so­ev­er. The My Design Sketch­book series a great gift for bud­ding illus­tra­tors and aspir­ing fash­ion design­ers from all backgrounds.

Although the Shi­ra book is con­sid­ered the sec­ond in the series, fin­ish­ing the Adi­na sketch­book first is not required. Despite slight­ly dif­fer­ent cloth­ing options and tuto­ri­als, both iter­a­tions fea­ture the same skill-lev­eled instructions.

Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 8 and up.

Addi­tion­al Titles Fea­tured in Review: