Not All Princesses Dress in Pink

by Jane Yolen (Author) Anne-Sophie Lanquetin (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Not all princesses dress in pink.
Some play in bright red socks that stink,
blue team jerseys that don't quite fit,
accessorized with a baseball mitt,
and a sparkly crown!

Princesses come in all kinds. Exuberant text from Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Yolen Stemple paired with charming illustrations prove that girls can jump in mud puddles and climb trees, play sports and make messes--all while wearing their tiaras!

Not every girl has a passion for pink, but all young ladies will love this empowering affirmation of their importance and unlimited potential.

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Hardcover
$18.99

None

Starred Review

A joyful and much-needed antidote to the precious pink pestilence that has infested picture books aimed at girls.

None

The book doesn't end memorably, but throughout it makes its ever-important girl-power point with panache and, thanks to Lanquetin's dynamic art, pizazz.

Publishers Weekly

Yolen, her daughter/occasional collaborator Stemple (The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories), and Lanquetin (Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins) turn noblesse oblige on its head with this tribute to girl power. "Some princesses roll around, / wrestling on the muddy ground," asserts the text, as one such young lady frolics with some rambunctious dogs, "then get right up to skip and dance/ in tattered, stained, and muddy pants, / and a sparkly crown." The crown, which serves as both a goes-witheverything accessory and a refrain, reminds readers that femininity can encompass all kinds of behavior, including the savoring of messy food, using power tools, "moving dirt," and bike-riding. Lanquetin tucks sly fairy tale references into her digital artwork: rather than riding to a ball in a pumpkin coach, a group of girls tends to a pumpkin patch, while another princess—no Rapunzel—leaves a tower via monkey bars. The empowerment theme probably won't be a revelation to most members of the latest generation of very young women—"You go, girl" is practically their birthright—but the snappy, upbeat illustrations and blithely confident characters are plenty of fun. Ages 3-6. (June)

Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Review quotes



Jane Yolen
Jane Yolen is the author of more than 300 books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott-winning Owl Moon and the New York Times best-selling How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? With Candlewick, she is the editor of three collections of poems for children: Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems; Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry; and This Little Piggy: Lap Songs, Finger Plays, Clapping Games, and Pantomime Rhymes. She divides her time between Massachusetts and Scotland.

Kelly Murphy is the illustrator of Loony Little: An Environmental Tale. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781416980186
Lexile Measure
610
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date
June 15, 2010
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV014000 - Juvenile Fiction | Girls & Women
Library of Congress categories
Stories in rhyme
Individuality
Princesses
Sex role
Girls

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