In a world full of media about girls that need to be saved or rescued or fought for, we were excited to see these recent books that turn the story on its head.

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink
By Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Illustrated by Anne-Sophie Lanquetin

I'll be the first to admit to a fondness for a tiara or some sparkly platform shoes, but I also like to dig in my garden and go on hikes, sometimes in my sparkly shoes. Lanquetin's pictures of girls in tiaras, mismatched clothes and bare feet beautifully capture the way little girls make both more and less of their princess obsessions than adults do, and the friendly, confident narrative written by Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple shows girls that they can be more than just delicate, tidy, quiet things. In Not All Princesses Dress in Pink, girls play soccer and dance in the rain and use power tools and even escape by themselves from tall stone towers.

We didn't have many books like this when I was growing up in the 1970s (there still aren't many now) so it took the Riot Grrls and the punk princess aesthetic of the '90s to help me reconcile my love of glitter with my independent spirit. Books like Not All Princess Dress in Pink can help ensure today's girls don't have to wait until their twenties to embrace the best that glamour has to offer while shedding its constraints. If your daughter loves Fancy Nancy, please give her the opportunity to love this too -- those heels can be very confining.

My Name Is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream?
By Jennifer Fosberry
Illustrated by Mike Litwin

Another great girl power book that has crossed our desk recently is Jennifer Fosberry’s My Name Is Not Isabella, the story of a little girl named Isabella who wakes up one morning and tells her mother that her name is not Isabella -- and changes her identity again at each transition throughout her day. It doesn't take long to figure out that Isabella is channeling not just other selves but historical women who have made a difference; the conceit is a playful way to offer young girls role models and biographical introductions without getting preachy or distracting from the narrative. One of my favorites is when Isabella gets on the school bus and says, "I am ROSA, the greatest bravest activist who ever was!" For each of her changes in personality, Isabella's parents respond with a sentence containing a verb that encapsulates the importance of that figure. For Rosa, Isabella's dad says, "Well, Rosa, MARCH out there and take your seat on the bus." Even the unusual construction of this book serves the story: Each identity change is featured in a double-page spread that is illustrated in a style appropriate to the historical figure, with the name and verb both in dramatic capital letters.

At the end of the book there is a short biography and picture of each of the women mentioned in the story. You might think that changing your identity every moment is not a great message to send to young girls (early elementary-age girls will probably get the most out of this book) until you get to the end of the story when Isabella goes to bed. She turns back into Isabella, "the sweetest, kindest, smartest, bravest, fastest, toughest, greatest girl that ever was..."