Young Southold girl models for toy company
Four-year-old model KathrynGrace Nickles-Blangiardo of Southold is getting some national face time this holiday season.
KathrynGrace’s image graces the boxes of toy strollers and rocking cradles made by the you&me toy company. The toys are being sold in major outlets like Toys ‘R’ Us.
She’s also featured on the cover of “The Doctor’s Family,” a paperback romance novel written by New York Times bestselling author Lenora Worth. The story is about a single mother raising triplets, portrayed on the cover by three different photographs of KathrynGrace.
KathrynGrace said the photo shoot for the novel was “nice because it was like Halloween because it had pumpkins on it.”
She began modeling last year when she was accepted by the New York agency Product Model Management. Her mom, Kate Nickles, brings her daughter to auditions and said the two enjoy “a mother/daughter day going in. We laugh and spend time to go to the city.”
KathrynGrace won last year’s “Carter’s Cutie” contest sponsored by the national children’s clothing company, Ms. Nickles said. She also appeared on Channel 11 this summer for a 10th anniversary celebration of the kids’ TV hit “Dora the Explorer.” There she met Caitlin Sanchez, the young actress who is the voice of Dora.
Ms. Nickles said KathrynGrace loves to model. “She gets upset with me if we miss an audition,” she said, though noting that they rarely do.
As a model’s mom, Ms. Nickles said she takes pains to teach her daughter to deal with adults on a professional level, but it’s not all work.
This year KathrynGrace acted for a Nickelodeon network children’s show, “Team Umizoomi.” Ms. Nickles said the show should air this spring or summer.
“She can have fun with kids but follow directions and still be a kid,” Ms. Nickles said.
