unexpectediteminbaggingarea
Sat 10-Nov-12 09:01:41
DD loves princesses (natch) but I'm trying to find her books with excitement and adventure and strong female main characters.
I know this sounds really earnest and po-faced, and I'm not, honestly. I just hate all that Disney princess and barbie shit.
Thank you!
coldcupoftea
Sat 10-Nov-12 09:08:47
The Night Pirates
Polly Jean Pyjama Queen
Zog
Dora the Explorer
Meg and Mog
off the top of my head, I'm sure there are lots more.. sorry can't do links on phone! My 2yo DD loves books that are not too gender specific anyway, like the Gruffalo, fairy tales etc...
RubberNeckNibbler
Sat 10-Nov-12 09:08:53
Monkey and me
Maisy books (DS adores Maisy)
No Matter What doesn't mention gender so you can play it either way and is a lovely tale
Meg and Mog
GobblersSparklyExplodingKnob
Sat 10-Nov-12 09:11:08
Theas18
Sat 10-Nov-12 09:14:30
Got to be Katie morag lovely books on somany levels .
Mind you the feisty little princess in"I want my potty"etc us great and a princess
I love "The Paperbag Princess" by Robert Munsch. The princess has to rescue the prince - its brilliant.
wearymum200
Sun 11-Nov-12 18:39:41
Katie Morag
Shirley Hughes' Lucy and Tom books
James Mayhew Katie books (there is one called Katie and the Spanish Princess which will tick the princess box, but dd fave one is Katie in London)
Schlock
Sun 11-Nov-12 18:42:54
I second princess smartypants.
timtam23
Sun 11-Nov-12 20:36:15
Definitely Princess Smartypants!
Also; Winnie the Witch; Handa's Hen/Handa's Surprise
Shirley Hughes does some books with a little girl and her baby brother - Katie & Olly - The Nursery Collection is the main book but there are lots of other small spinoffs - Bouncing/Giving/Chatting etc - the illustrations are gorgeous
BlueChampagne
Mon 12-Nov-12 14:01:36
Another vote for Winnie the Witch and Katie Morag.
unexpectediteminbaggingarea
Fri 16-Nov-12 13:25:36
ty ty everyone. I'm enjoying buying all these lovely books for DD christmas! Except the Paperbag Princess, which was on amazon for about £70 so slightly outside my budget.
Princess smartypants arrived yesterday, it's great.
peachcake
Tue 20-Nov-12 10:50:49
Haha too funny just looked at Princess Smartypants books on Amazon and read such a funny and critical and review I thought i would share it!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R29Y4Y4BSR7R16/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R29Y4Y4BSR7R16
Really made me chuckle!
I do think Zog is a particularly good recommendation - there is a princess but she isn't really interested in just being a princess - she has other ambitions.
Another Julia Donaldson is Room on the Broom, and The Gruffalo's Child is a little girl.
Emma Chichester-Clarke's Blue Kangaroo series features a girl called Lily, who does have a fondness for girly stuff, but she's attached to her kangaroo. My 5 year old DS1 loves this series, and when I first read it to him I gave him a toy kangaroo which I'd originally bought for myself - Katy Roo has become an important sleeping companion for DS1.
Maybe some of the fairytale retellings not based on princesses would be good - how about Little Red Riding Hood? (perhaps the version with a happy ending).
There are lots more for slightly older readers but I'm bearing in mind that your daughter is only 2!
I buy my sons a lot of books from www.thebookpeople.co.uk, which usually has a couple of good sets of colourful picture books, you can just skip the glittery princess things.
The Night Pirates. Best book ever to read aloud, as well as fitting your criteria!
The Worst Princess has great pictures, and is dead in line with your requirements.
notcitrus
Wed 21-Nov-12 15:54:14
Freddie and the Fairy
Zog
Meg and Mog etc
The Large Family (5 minutes peace, etc)
oneortwoorthree
Mon 26-Nov-12 09:02:24
Just discovered this website through a friend, and thought of this thread. http://www.amightygirl.com/books. Full of books and other stuff for strong girls! Hope you find it useful, my DD's Christmas presents will definitely include some of these!
gingemum
Mon 26-Nov-12 13:06:56
jojane
Mon 26-Nov-12 13:12:47
Dd has a book called the worst princess or something (will have to look on bookcase) basically she gets rescued by a prince who then wants her to stay in the castle and look pretty but instead she runs of and has adventures with a dragon.
posyplum
Mon 26-Nov-12 13:35:52
Topsy and Tim? (in the old versions at least, Topsy runs faster, swims first, less sulky when they both have a cold etc).
LadyEnglefield
Wed 28-Nov-12 13:00:49
The Bella Donna series by Ruth Symes - she doesn't want to be a princess she wants to be a witchling!
JoulesM
Wed 28-Nov-12 13:56:38
The Emily Brown books are fab and my 2year old girl loves them. In particular Emily Brown and the Thing and Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency. Here's a link http://www.cressidacowell.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=67
(Hope the link works!)
