ALA Booklist

The fifth book of Russell's comics adaptations of Wilde's fairy tales contains one of the two best known of those sentimental Victorian bonbons, "The Happy Prince." Whereas the other, "The Selfish Giant," ends with the protagonist dead, the prince in this one is long gone to begin with, though his spirit haunts his huge memorial statue, from which he can see the city is impoverished. The spirit recruits a swallow to set things right for the sufferers by stripping the statue of its decorative treasures, until winter comes and u guessed it! e bird croaks. Russell's elegant, glowing, art nouveau influenced illustration, which recalls both Maxfield Parrish and Arthur Rackham, fits the tale perfectly, and his reduction of the text mutes the cloying religiosity that for today's readers spoils so much that Wilde wrote. A work of adaptation that it's hard to think could be bettered.

Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Each volume begins with an evocative frontispiece (the same as the cover image) by Etienne Delessert or Gary Kelley. The main design element within the texts is occasional, and distracting, use of colored font. An illustration of each author (also by Delessert or Kelley) accompanies a brief appended biography; a short essay about each text is also included.

Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Ray takes inspiration from the well-known fairytale, wherein a prince is raised in splendid, protective surroundings. He grows old and dies without ever seeing the misery endured by the people of his city: ignorance is bliss. Only from the leaden perch of the statue raised in his honor can the prince comprehend the truth. Wilde gets fair handling in this adaptation, but curiously, some of the poignancy is lost. Still, this is a wonderful tribute to the importance of compassion. Ray's paintings—sometimes baroque and glittering with gold, other times stiff Egyptian vistas, still other times bleak, Dickensian scenes—are transporting. (Picture book. 4+)"

School Library Journal

Gr 3 Up-Russell's impeccable graphic art brings new dimension to Wilde's tale of social inequality, sacrifice, and devotion. The statue of a hedonistic young prince who died young befriends a wayward swallow migrating to Egypt, and both sacrifice themselves to try and ease the suffering of the poor before finding a heavenly reward for their efforts. The many perspectives, asides, and subplots in the story, which can seem abrupt in a straight reading, are particularly well suited for this format. The panels make it obvious who is speaking and clarify their place in the story, resulting in a perfect union between narrative and art. The text is identical to the original, aside from a few minor abridgments that streamline the swallow's journeys and descriptions of Egypt. Skillfully using perspective, angle, and shadow, Russell portrays the emotions and humanity of the Happy Prince while never letting readers forget that he is a statue. A lovely adaptation. Anna Haase Krueger, formerly at Antigo Public Library, WI