“Hi, I am Eloise.  I am six.  I am a city child.  I live at the Plaza,” said my daughter Zooey twirling around the room. Zooey recently told her grandmother that she’s changing her name to Eloise. When I asked her why, she said it’s because she rawther likes the sort of fun that Eloise has…throwing parties at the Plaza, ordering room service, having tea in the Palm Court in the Plaza Hotel and learning French.

I think I’d like to change my name to Eloise too! If life could be as simple is pretending you’re sick so you can play, ordering room service so you don’t have to cook dinner and saying ,”charge it please!” Let me try!

Hi, I’m Eloise and I’m thirty-six. I am a mom and a teacher. I like to play dress-up and wear fancy shoes and drink tea everyday…not bad, I would try on Eloise’s Mary Janes any day!

Oh, to be a kid again…not just any squirmy, wiggly six year old, but a kid who has a love for the finer things in life (circa 1950s), the color pink and rooms on tippy-top floors. Oui, I am that thirty-six year old kid at heart and my daughter could easily be six-year-old Eloise.

Eloise was created when the author (also actress, singer and dancer), Kay Thompson, showed up for dance rehearsal ten minutes late. MGM’s dance instructor, Rober Alton asked Thompson, “Who do you think you are?” Thompson responded in a little girl voice, “I am Eloise. I am six.”

Kay Thompson created one of the most cherished children’s books of all time that follows the adventures of spunky Eloise who does whatever she wants and gets away with it. You may have read Eloise books as a child or have seen the movies inspired by the books. It’s easy to love Eloise. Her “enfant terrible” character as an overprivileged six-year-old, the terror of the Hotel Plaza in New York is hilarious.

I rawther love that Eloise is never bored! Think about all the good things that come with being the age of six…the world is still a playground. While Eloise’s mother knows Coco Chanel, my little Eloise (my daughter) has a grandmother named Coco…not too far off. My grandmother, who we call Gigi, reminds me of Eloise too. She’s sassy and always up for a party. Even at eighty-years-old, she has that enfant terrible personality. That’s the essence of Eloise, there’s never a dull moment.  

My grandmother Gigi who is so much like Eloise

Eloise has a great big imagination and confidence to match. I love her free-spirit and the way she makes my daughter laugh. Eloise is one of those classic books that is still enjoyed by ALL ages.

I can hear Eloise reciting the poem that my dad had my brother and sister and I say when we turned six: