Books fit for a little princess—August 28, 2009
When one has a three year old at home, one doesn’t need to look far for inspiration for lively stories. This week, when needing inspiration for the library’s article, I again turned to my daughter aptly nicknamed “Princess” by our Library Board President George Sullivan. She always has great ideas, and indeed this week she pulled out a tried and true book Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle. A book I picked up at a used sale some time ago, but still a favorite of hers. When I bought it, I was thinking about the storyline of a father and daughter out for a hike and all the wondrous things they come across. Now, we’ve graduated to the Disney Princesses of course, and you’ll find lots of books at the library on Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora and Belle.
But if you, like some other parents, quickly bore of the Disney versions, with their trademarked yellow, pink and blue gowns, here are some other books at the library that might appeal to both you and your little princess. The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be is a delightful twist that tells the story of the Princess and the Pea, but from the clever Pea’s point of view. Or The Princess Knight tells the story of a young princess determined to hold her own in a family of boys. This princess takes matters into her own hands when she becomes the prize of the jousting tournament. In Princess Pigsty, Princess Isabella decides that being a princess is boring when everyone does everything for you. She chucks her crown and her father decides her punishment is to help in the pigsty, but will his banishment backfire if she prefers the pigsty to the castle? Or perhaps your princess would prefer The Princesses Have a Ball where the ball turns out to be more basketball than a dancing ball.
I enjoy bringing home these various princess stories for my toddler to show her that not all princesses are always dressed in pink, blue or yellow ball gowns. According to Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? also by Coyle, “A princess is a place in your heart” not so much about the gowns or castles. Still, a healthy dose of Barbie princess DVDs and some new Disney music CD’s are always on order at the library when your princess needs a fix.
