I’m late to this. Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker came out in 2017. I picked it up earlier this year to read with my 6-year-old daughter. It’s a 288-page young adult comic book – marketed to ages 12-18. I really didn’t know anything about it, so I figured I would read it first before reading out loud with my daughter.
The setting is a fictional Europe on the cusp between monarchy and modernism – though with a gender-fluidity theme that is very contemporary. (There isn’t anything that a 6-year-old can’t handle, though there is a male character who likes to wear dresses.) The art is wonderful. The characters are sweet. The plotting and pacing are great.
My first read through I cried.
On every subsequent reading – with my daughter and with my wife – I still cry. (more…)