Marie Nichols brings Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress to Bank Square Books
Marie Nichols brings Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress to Bank Square Books for a free Saturday Storytime on August 22, giving young readers a chance to meet a Connecticut children’s author whose own adventures with her grandchildren helped inspire her stories.
Nichols will read her newest picture book during the 11 a.m. storytime at the Mystic bookstore. The event is free and runs until noon.
Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress is a 36-page illustrated children’s book about a little girl, her grandmother and a birthday that becomes much more adventurous than Kynlee expected.
A Birthday, a Sparkling Dress and a Little Magic
It’s Kynlee’s birthday, and she has been waiting for her turn.
She remembers the exciting adventures her older brother has shared with their grandmother, Gram. Kynlee was always too young to join them.
This birthday is different.
Gram gives Kynlee a sparkling dress, and Kynlee becomes convinced there is something magical woven into it. Soon, grandmother and granddaughter are swept into the kind of adventure Kynlee has been waiting to experience.
But the story isn’t simply about a magical dress.
As their adventure unfolds, Kynlee begins discovering that what makes her birthday extraordinary isn’t necessarily something hidden in the fabric. The book turns its fantasy premise into a story about confidence, imagination and recognizing the qualities that make a child special.
At its center is also the relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter, a theme that runs through much of Nichols’ work.
The Real-Life Gram Behind the Stories
There’s a good reason the grandmother feels important.
Nichols draws heavily from her own experiences as a grandmother.
A native New Englander, she was born and raised in Lewiston, Maine, growing up with four sisters and a brother in a family where extended-family relationships were part of everyday life.
Nichols recalls Sundays when everyone piled into the family car to visit grandmothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. She describes her own grandmothers as strong, independent women who taught their children to look after one another.
Those memories eventually found their way into another generation.
Nichols now lives in Connecticut and spends part of her time in Virginia with her grandchildren, where bedtime stories can turn into imaginary expeditions.
She jokingly describes herself as the family’s “Marvel action grandmother,” joining her grandchildren in the elaborate worlds they create.
Rather than leaving those adventures in the living room, Nichols began turning some of that energy into children’s books.
Kynlee Has Joined the Adventures
Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress, published in late 2025, is particularly significant because it’s the first adventure centered on Kynlee.
But Kynlee isn’t the first child to head off on an adventure with Gram.
Nichols has created a growing collection of children’s stories built around grandparents and grandchildren exploring imaginary worlds together.
In We’re Going to the Dinosaur Forest!, young readers head into a dinosaur adventure that emphasizes finding courage when things become frightening.
We’re Going on a Space Adventure! sends Gram and her grandchildren much farther from home. The story mixes imaginative play with the idea of believing in yourself when a difficult situation suddenly requires courage.
Nichols has also expanded the series with We’re Going on Safari, following Kynlee and Bracken on an imaginary wildlife expedition with Gram. The story incorporates animal facts and questions about how animal parents care for their young.
Together, the books reflect a simple philosophy Nichols uses for her children’s work: “Read, Play, Repeat!”
Reading becomes the beginning of play rather than the end of it.
More Than Just Reading the Story
That approach extends beyond the books themselves.
Nichols’ Step in Time Books project includes companion activities for children, with games, quizzes and mazes created around her stories, including Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress.
The idea is to encourage children to keep interacting with a story after the final page has been turned.
It’s also a natural fit for Saturday Storytime.
Hearing a book directly from its author gives children something they don’t get from an ordinary bedtime reading. The person who imagined Kynlee, Gram and the sparkling dress is sitting in front of them, turning something normally confined to a page into a shared experience.
Meet the Team Behind Kynlee
Nichols wrote the story, but Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress also has a visual storyteller.
The book is illustrated by Penny Weber, a New York-based children’s book illustrator whose digital artwork draws upon her background working in watercolor and acrylic paint.
Weber has illustrated numerous children’s books and uses Photoshop to produce artwork intended to retain the warmth and texture associated with traditional painted illustrations.
Linda H. Powers handled the book’s design. Powers has worked in creative services and publishing for decades and has designed and produced more than 45 children’s illustrated books, along with educational and other publishing projects.
The finished Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress is available in both paperback and hardcover editions.
A Saturday Morning Built for Younger Readers
The book is particularly suited to a storytime setting.
At 36 pages, Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress is a picture book aimed at young children, with booksellers generally placing its readership around the preschool and early elementary years.
Its birthday theme is immediately familiar. So is Kynlee’s frustration at watching an older sibling get to do things she couldn’t yet do.
Then comes the sparkling dress, Gram and the possibility of magic.
For parents and grandparents, meanwhile, there’s another story running underneath it: the importance of the adventures children remember having with the adults who loved spending time with them.
Event Details
Event: Marie Nichols: Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress Saturday Storytime
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2026
Time: 11 a.m.–noon
Location: Bank Square Books
Address: 80 Stonington Road, Suite 8, Mystic, CT 06355
Admission: Free
Author: Marie Nichols
Book: Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress
Length: 36 pages
Illustrator: Penny Weber
Book Designer: Linda H. Powers
Format: Children’s picture book
Nichols will read Kynlee and the Sparkle Dress during the Saturday morning program, introducing children to Kynlee, Gram and an adventure that begins with one very special birthday present.
Signed copies are also available through Bank Square Books for readers unable to attend the event.
More information is available at the Event Website link below.
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.
