What can I say,
it’s just refreshing. I’m up to my ears with pink and princesses, and they are
all white and blonde, they all want
to find their prince and get married, and as much as I enjoy watching my little
monkey dress up and kiss imaginary frogs, couldn’t we mix it up a bit?
My princess
monkey, as we like to call her, is strong and agile. So strong she has on
occasion left older boys who wanted to play rough crying. She is strong, and
lean, and coordinated. She can climb what most kids her age can’t, and she’ll
do it in shiny shiny leggings with a few bangles too, thank you very much. And
that is fine. That is fun, but, where are the books that talk about that? Where are the books that talk about her
and her potential, her strengths? Where
are her role models? Where are the books that incite her to climb and be
outdoors? To learn how to get the skin off
a sardine for her prince.
When Shana sent me a preview to her book I
was doubtful. I’d heard great things about her and her work, but the idea of
non-fiction books for kids seemed a bit ambitious. Ok, so I was ignorant and naïve,
sue me. She had me at “Daisy was a girl with gumption” which, just so you know, is page one.
The book is fun
to read, which is already a plus for those of us who are forced to read these
stories over and over again. It is educational, and I’m not talking about the
monkey here, I knew nothing about the girl scouts other than –you guessed it-
they sell cookies. First thing I did when I was done reading was look up the
nearest girl scout group in the hope that I could get the monkey to join. But
the most important for me is that it is inspirational. I want my girl to read over and over
again that “girls
can do anything”. And I don't mind my son hearing it too. That you
can combine your passions, that you can rebel against convention and expectations, against what society dictates women should or should not do, should or should not want, to come up
with something entirely new. And then see that this figment of Daisy's imagination is still
standing 100 years later.
The illustrations
are joyous, colourful and modern, filled with affirmative and positive messages waiting to be discovered together
with your child (you know, the eleven hundredth time you read it). And for the
more ambitious, a little bio in the back will provide further details.
Over all, can’t
wait to get it, and no, this
post is not sponsored, I’m just hoping it does well so publishers get the
message. Pass it on sisters.
About the author and illustrator:
Shana Corey grew up in the South and writes picture
books about brave women and girls in history, like Amelia Bloomer and Juliette
Gordon Low. Oh yeah, she is also al children book editor at Random House, and is apparently available for school readings (mental note: follow that up).
She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York,
Hadley Hooper is
an editorial artist whose work appears regularly in The New York Times. Here
Come the Girl Scouts is her first picture book (but will not be her last I tell
ya).
She lives in
Denver, Colorado. No idea who with.