Comments on: Six Princess Books for Parents Who Really, Really Hate Princess Books

By: Ideas for Disney Princess and the Frog Birthday Party Theme | Mud Hut Mama

Ideas for Disney Princess and the Frog Birthday Party Theme | Mud Hut Mama — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:08:55 +0000

[...] you who are looking for non-traditional princess role models for your children, I love this list of “Six Princess Books for Parents who Really, Really Hate Princess Books” from Building a Library. I’ve put just about all of them on our wish [...]

By: Julie MavMad

Julie MavMad — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:10:09 +0000

Thanks for all of these–I have some but will be getting the others FOR MY TWO BOYS! This emerging consciousness about the problems with Disney princesses if fantastic, but largely missing that our boys need to hear these as much as the girls because *their* warped views of women and princesses is damaging as well. My son likes princesses, and I want to encourage that without it being the problematic princess images, too.

By: Tom B.

Tom B. — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:44:08 +0000

Thank you for reading the list!

And, funnily enough, I just picked up Cinderella Ate My Daughter from the library on Monday. Looking forward to reading it this weekend!

By: Angie

Angie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:38:20 +0000

Amazon has An Ordinary Princess in stock
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ordinary-Princess-M-Kaye/dp/0142300853/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335227843&sr=8-1

By: Angie

Angie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:35:29 +0000

I know Cinderella Ate My Daughter was already mentioned above, but I just wanted to reiterate how fabulous it is if you haven’t read it. My husband and I both read it, and I love it. Any parent of a girl who feels remotely uncomfortable with the overly pink and princessy girl culture of today should read it. In the meantime, Orenstein has a fabulous list of “anti-princess” princess books- this link is a great resource for counteracting the “pink” culture:
http://peggyorenstein.com/resources.html

I have already added a bunch of your suggestions to my daughter’s wish list, and will be looking for the age appropriate ones at the library this week! Thank you!!!

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:25:22 +0000

When your daughter gets older, I suggest the Dealing with Dragons series by Patricia C. Wrede!

By: Stella

Stella — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:11:40 +0000

I would also add ‘Princess Polly to the Rescue’ to the list (it’s out of print now, but available secondhand on Amazon). It features a double gender subversion – the titular princess’s boyfriend is kidnapped by a dragon, who mistakes him for a princess because he’s so pretty, and Princess Polly sets out to rescue him. Polly is practical and smart and willing to get her hands dirty to rescue her boyfriend, and the book definitely has strong feminist undertones.

By: One Night Stanzas » Blog Archive » Procrastination Station #101

One Night Stanzas » Blog Archive » Procrastination Station #101 — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:08:11 +0000

[...] Tried-and-tested kickass princess stories for worried feminist mums. Brilliant. [...]

By: Tom B.

Tom B. — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:53:30 +0000

Julia Donaldson has a princess book? We ADORE her books! We have to get a copy of that. Great recommendation!

By: Anna King

Anna King — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:49:28 +0000

You may like Zog by Julia Donaldson. The princess shuns her “silly frilly” life to become a flying doctor.

My daughter, then 2, developed an obsession with the Royal Wedding last year and particularly “Princess Kate”. I am happy to encourage this as Kate Middleton is an educated, sporty and accomplished lady who married for love and my daughter could do a lot worse in terms of role models. She has a nice souvenir book of the day, and the fact that this is a real life princess makes her very appealing!