Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman Review by Andrea Vollmer

In the wonderfully illustrated picture book Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman, Jacob loves to visit the dress-up corner at school with his friend Emily. Emily likes the shiny yellow dress, and Jacob loves the sparkly pink dress. When he adds the crown, he is the perfect princess!  No one questions this choice except Christopher, who insists Jacob should be wearing boy clothes and playing boy things.

After school, Jacob checks in with his mom. She happily reassures him that boys can wear dresses and suggests that he go play in his witch’s dress from Halloween. He is having such a good time twirling in the black lace that he announces he would like to wear it to school. Mom doesn’t think that’s such a great idea. It is, after all, a dress for pretend play at home.

Jacob’s New Dress explores the many layers of gender norms through the eyes of both the children and adults in this story. Jacob faces teasing and criticism as Christopher asserts his confidence about fixed-gender identities, which Christopher has confirmed with his father. He also finds a fierce ally in Emily, who shows empathy for Jacob as she stands up to his critics in the most perfect of ways. Jacob’s parents and Jacob’s teacher, Ms. Wilson, all play realistic roles as supporters adjusting to a seeing through a different lens.

Although each bit of the story if perfectly presented, there are two moments that stand out as pivotal from my adult point of view. The first is an exchange between  Jacob and his mom over having a real school dress:

“Mom?” whispered Jacob. “Can you help me make a real dress?”

Mom didn’t answer. The longer she didn’t answer, the less Jacob could breathe.

[Turn the page. Turn the page! Picture books can be so dramatic!]

“Let’s get the sewing machine,” she said finally.

Jacob felt the air refill his body. He grinned. Mom smiled back.

“There are all sorts of ways to be a boy,” she said. “Right?”

The second moment is in the midst of a class discussion, where Ms. Wilson reflects what we all needed to know: “I think Jacob wears what he’s comfortable in. Just like you do.” It’s such a simple statement, and we adults, especially those of us that hold this power in the classroom, need to be reminded.

Jacob’s New Dress is a pitch-perfect addition to the limited selections in the LGBT children’s picture book collection. It’s also important to note that this book was written by parents who experienced this first-hand with their own son, parents who were looking for a book like this that didn’t yet exist.