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The Prince and the Dressmaker | February 7, 2018

By Jen Wang (Macmillan Children's Books/ First Second)

If you want to read a book that will stay with you forever, read Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker.  This graphic novel is nothing short of masterful.  I smiled from the first page to the last and often found myself going back over pages and panels to experience them again. 

Despite its elaborate costumes, fancy parties, and majestic settings, The Prince and the Dressmaker is not your average fairy tale.  But it is most definitely a tale that needs to be heard.  Jen Wang tells a story of identity that feels at times scary and impossible but also comforting and hopeful.  She explores stigma and societal expectations with grace and truth.  On the page, Jen experiments with composition throughout the book to keep the visual experience as exciting and beautiful as the story being told.  Her art is soft and sweet and often powerfully simple.

The Prince and the Dressmaker will make you laugh and cry and swoon and hope.  Read this book.

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