The Fairest in the Land - Lesléa Newman - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Lesléa Newman

ILLUSTRATOR: Joshua Heinsz

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: Explored a theme that is much needed in today’s world. Works quite well, but could have done better in a couple of aspects.

Annabelle and Benjamin enjoy playing dress up along with their three dogs. However, whenever the time comes to pick a costume, Benjamin always goes first and picks the dressier feminine options such as a bride or a princess or a ballet tutu. Poor Annabelle is stuck playing the ‘boring’ male roles. When she finally protests to Benjamin that she too wants to have a turn at being the princess, he has a brainwave: who says that there has to be a prince for every princess? Or that there can be only one ‘fairest in the land’? Why can’t there be two princesses?

I appreciate the thought behind the book. It reminds me a little of Princess Kevin, another picture book where the little boy loves dressing up in girls’ clothes. A common point to both the books is that they don’t openly align themselves to the LGBTQ community, nor do they provide any justification as to why their lead characters like dressing up in girls’ clothes. The boys just like dresses, and that’s that! This leaves the purpose of the books open to interpretation and makes them suitable to a variety of situations concerning self-identity, whether the child is trans or gender-fluid or simply a dress lover no matter where they fit on the gender spectrum.

The above is the obvious first takeaway from the book. But other than the interesting comment on asserting one’s true preferences without hesitation, I also loved how the story highlights the dynamics of friendship, with one friend usually compromising more to keep the other happy. I was glad at how Annabelle wasn’t always shown as happily acceding to Benjamin’s wishes, but made her stance clear after allowing him to have his way a few times. Good friendship works on a mutual and balanced give-and-take, and the book highlights this well.

As much as I loved the theme, I feel that the book could have done slightly better in one aspect of its artwork – the way Benjamin is drawn. If the idea is that anyone can wear dresses, was there any need to draw the boy in such a Disney-princess kind of look, complete with big blue eyes and thick blonde hair? It indirectly raises the thought that boys that look feminine might be more interested in dressing up as princesses, which isn’t the case at all. A more realistic look, just like the one used for Annabelle, would have made me happier. The rest of the artwork is fine, as all the pages are filled with beautiful colours. The three dogs add a lot of fun to every page.

Another point where the book could have done better was in the title and the idea of being ‘fairest in the land.’ This is one of the most outdated concepts from traditional fairy tales, being based on the old-fashioned fascination with white skin. I wish the book would have ditched this idea and presented the content without resorting to this cliché. 

The textual content is spaced out well on the page and doesn’t feel cluttered. The story is written in simple rhythmic prose, following the ABCB rhyming pattern. The vocabulary level is quite easy to the intended reading age of 4-8 years.

All in all, this is a sweet story that challenges gender norms and indicates to children how they have the freedom to be themselves. Despite the teeny points of improvement, it is a good read that can be used to have some interesting discussions in schools.

My thanks to Abrams Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “The Fairest in the Land”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.