Staff Picks (December): The Prince And The Dressmaker

It’s would be easy to pigeonhole this book by some of the media attention it will draw and although this is a story about a young 19th Century prince named Sebastian who secretly loves to wear dresses and hires an ambitious young seamstress named Frances to make dresses for him don’t be mistaken. This is not a fairy tale about gender, instead Jen Wang craftily elevates the story beyond the sum of its parts and into a positive and satisfying tale about self-expression that reads like the best of the Disney Princess movies. The Prince and the Dressmaker at its heart is a wonderful and universal story about being true to yourself and to your creative spirit. Wang’s expressive drawing conveys subtlety of emotion here evoking both Disney animators like Glen Keane and children’s illustrators like Hilary Knight. The illustrations work with the story to propel it forward and add much nuance and emotion. Jen Wang understands misfits and I am a big fan of her digital comic The White Snake but The Prince and the Dressmaker marks a big leap forward for her as a creator.

—Jim Fallone

Publisher: First Second
Item Code: DEC171602
Release Date: 2/14/18
SRP: $16.99