The Princess and the Plea
I have been asked a handful of times for books for young children about princesses. After a couple of searches result in dead ends or dissatisfied patrons, I am either asked about (or, I am ashamed to admit) fall back on the dreaded Disney princesses. A search on "princess child qbook" produces staggering results which are difficult to wade through, and run across the genre board. I don't want to dread this question, but I've never had what I would consider solid success with the question. Of course, I always suggest The Paper Bag Princess, so that book has been getting good press, but then my memory falls short.
I'm sure that once I put out the call, I'll know about most all of the books that are recommended (he says as Falling for Rapunzel suddenly pops into his head), but I've been asked this enough times that I thought maybe we could put out a list of picture book princess books that excludes those overcommercialized, one-dimensional animated Barbie-clone hags. We could print it up in pink paper bordered with hearts and tiaras; it would be oh so pret-ty...
So how about some suggestions and a volunteer to put it all together?
posted by 82jp at 3:26 PM
4 Comments:
I hereby volunteer! Angelina comes to mind; I will look forward to all y'alls' recommendations...
I am a librarian, and a list nut. I thought of some stories, but then realized most of the books I was considering were for more of the 9-12 age group. I started looking around and actually found a lot of princess stories for Young Adults. I was surprised by that. I thought of all of the Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty,even Angelina, etc, but I thought I would try for something different. I compiled a list for a younger audience. I hope this is what you were looking for. Here goes:
Cinder-Edna by Ellen Jackson,Good-Night Princess Pruney-Toes by Lisa McCourt,Lady Lollipop by Dick King-Smith,The Paper Princess by Elisa Kiever, Pocahontas: An American Princess by Joyce Milton, The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane and Herm Auch,Princess Buttercup: A Flower Princess Story by Wendy Cheyette Lewison,Princess Chamomile Gets Her Way by Hiawyn Oram, Princess Chamomile's Garden by Hiawyn Oram,Princess Fishtail by Frances Minters,Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck,
Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke, Princess Lulu Goes to Camp by Kathryn Cristaldi, Princess Penelope's Parrot by Helen Lester, Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut by Margaret Atwood,Princess Smartypants by Barbara Cole, The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories by DK Publishing,
The Story Telling Princess by Rafe Martin,The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo, Tumble Tower by Ann Tyler,The Very Smart Princess and the Princess-to-be by Mini Grey and Willa the Wonderful by Susan Milford.
Would the Princess and the Pizza appeal to a six-year-old? I've read it and I remember it being longish. It seems that the age range for this question tends to be preschool to 7 years, and clever spoofs, while there are many that are well done, sometimes go over their heads.
Regardless, I am glad that there seems to be a bit of interest in the subject. It will be so nice to be able to say, "Let me recommend you to a lovely list on the subject and don't ask me any more about princess. Thank you and have a nice day."
PLEASE KEEP TITLES COMING!! Maybe we should also talk about the essence of what we're looking for, here: picture books, natch; haute couture, sparkles, tiaras, and/or good shoes (!!) and/or plentiful pink and purple; lots of illustrations, with a princess strongly featured (and, when possible, strongly natured). Does this about sum it up? Xandi, you mentioned "Ella's Big Chance"--which, of course, fits the above definition and DEFINITELY belongs on our list, but which does not, of course, turn up on a keyword search for Princesses" in our collection. What was the other title you mentioned to me tonight?
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