Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Jacob's New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman

I have been waiting to get my hot little hands on this book for months. It was waiting for me when I returned from SCBWI Winter Conference in New York on Sunday. I ripped open the nondescript envelope, and this beautiful picture book fell out in to my lap.

Jacob's New Dress is written by Sarah and Ian Hoffman, published by Albert Whitman & Company. It is gorgeously illustrated by Chris Case. I met Sarah and Ian on twitter when they were guests on the #MGLITCHAT about LGBTQ characters in middle grade back in November.

This is the blurb from Goodreads:

Jacob loves playing dress-up, when he can be anything he wants to be. Some kids at school say he can't wear "girl" clothes, but Jacob wants to wear a dress to school. Can he convince his parents to let him wear what he wants? This heartwarming story speaks to the unique challenges faced by boys who don't identify with traditional gender roles.

Jacob doesn't understand why he can't wear a dress to school. "Boys don't wear dresses," one of the other boys tells him. But his mom, his teacher, and his friend Emily support his efforts to find the perfect dress to wear to school.

This book is a perfect book whether you know a "pink" boy (the male equivalent of a tom-boy) or not. My eleven year old daughter read it over my shoulder and wondered out loud why you *wouldn't* want to be different from everyone else. "Different is fun," she says.

I hope she's always that idealistic. We know different isn't always fun. But Jacob's New Dress shows kids that different is just fine. 

Jacob's New Dress on Amazon





3 comments:

Anna Staniszewski said...

I love books that reject the whole Blue Boy and Pink Girl notion. I know some teachers and parents who would certainly appreciate this kind of book--I'll spread the word.

Tuco said...
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Pam Vaughan said...

Great review kris! Thanks for sharing!