It too me a while to embrace Sophia’s love of princesses. I know she loves Disney’s Cinderella, but I’ve been on the look out for non-traditional princess stories. I want her to know that there are princesses who don’t need a Prince in Shining Armor to rescue them. Thankfully our local librarians have been a great resource.
I’m going to make this a regular feature on the blog. I’d love to hear what your favorites books are.
Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole
With a name like Princess Smartypants, what’s not to love? Her mother declares that she can no longer be a Ms. She needs to find a prince to become a Mrs. Independent and defiant, Princess Smartypants puts all the princes to the test. No one said they had to be easy! Will one of them pass the test? Will she become Mrs. Smartypants?
What we love: This princess is not afraid to think for herself and take matters into her own hand. She has fun hobbies and big scary pets. You’ll love the ending, too. I’m also a sucker for great illustrations. Sophia has asked for this book repeatedly, which means it passes the Sophia test.
Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman
You might have read about Grace in other books such as Amazing Grace and Boundless Grace. Two girls from Grace’s class will be chosen as princesses to ride on a school float. This begins a discussion among her classmates (girls and boys) on what a princess really does. All Grace knows is that they wear fancy dresses. Grace and her classmates learn that Princesses can be warriors or spies. Some are clever and trick their enemies. In the end, the entire class decides that it’s better to a princess that is helpful than to look pretty.
What we love: This book is frequently borrowed from our local library. One look at the cover and Sophia was in love: a girl in a pink dress with a sparkly tiara. I don’t talk to Sophia about race (mainly how our skin color makes us special), but Grace is a nice change from your typical blue-eyed blonde princesses. Also, Hoffman mentions real life princesses as well as princess fairy tales from other cultures. Another bit of diversity is that Grace’s mom is a single mother, and her grandmother lives with them. While Hoffman doesn’t make a big deal out of this, I think that kids will absorb that fact that everyone’s family is different.
I was not paid nor given books for this post. I purchased Princess Smartypants used and we continue to renew our library copy of Princess Grace until they force us to return it.
If you click any of the Amazon links above and make a purchase (not necessarily these books), I’ll earn a teensy weensy percentage of the sales.
we're big on reading also. will have to check these books out. look forward to more 🙂