Strong female role models in books for young children

[Sutherlandgirl]

I'm sure this thread has been done before so apologies.....

Can anyone recommend some good books for 2.5 year old DD, which have strong - brave, clever, kind hearted - female role models?

Appreciate that literature doesn't exactly need a gender bias, however, female characters really resonate with her (probably because she wants to differentiate herself from her older brother).

The Sophie books by Dick King Smith are great. They are chapter books but not long chapters. Can't quite remember when mine started listening to longer stories but they are lovely (think there's 6 books - we have a couple of 3-in-1 ones)

Both my DD and my DS enjoyed 'Ingenious Jean' by Susan Chandler.

The paper bag princess

YY to Sophie :)

Katie Morag (long picture books)
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf is an old favourite that still reads well
Also the Anna Hibiscus books are lovely when she's a little older

Emily Brown and the elephant emergency, and That rabbit belongs to emily brown

Wonderful, thank you, that should keep us going. Will also be reading these to my 4yr old DS who is going through a "girls can't do this / play with these toys" stage. Definitely made worse by watching TV with ridiculous commercials that only show girls playing with dolls and boys playing with cars......sorry am ranting now

Not seen it so cant vouch for age level but 'Rosie Revere, Engineer' is supposedly good

We have been reading a lovely bedtime book called Liitle One's Bedtime by Suzi Moore.

The little girl imagines herself to be a monster, pirate, knight, ballerina, magician Etc.

Zog by Julia Donaldson. A huge favourite here with DD2, aged 3, and 7yo DD1 still sneaks in for a listen.

Technically about dragon school, but a great plot about a princess who doesn't want to be rescued but wants to be a doctor instead.

www.amightygirl.com/books - have a look here

[http://www.amightygirl.com/books]

www.amightygirl.com/books

When your daughter's older you must read the Pippi Longstocking books to her. Pippi lives in a house with her pet monkey and horse, a suitcase full of gold and no grownups to tell her what to do. She has lots of adventures and the stories are very funny. Pippi can do anything!

The Worst Princess is great fun. My 4 year old DD and 2 and a half year old DS love it.

Chris riddell's ottoline books are good. Your 2.5 year might be a bit young yet, but your 4 year old might enjoy being read them. DS2 also enjoyed his far flung adventures series, which has one book where the lead character is a brave and clever girl (Corby flood). They have great pictures in them too.

Thank you so much for this thread! I'd never heard of the DKS Sophie books before. I happen to have an animal-loving Sophie myself and have just ordered the box set. She'll love them

Super Daisy is cool. There are books for little ones and then more advanced ones. Great thread as I have a DD the same. She has no interest in fairies or princesses. I really want books that reflect the kind of strong, sporty, boisterous girl she is. (We have the I want to be a boy issue too as she thinks girls stuff is naff)

My xmas shopping is now going to include all the recommendations above...just been looking at them all on Amazon. Will get extras for party presents for DDs friends

Amazing Grace.

The Worst Princess

Princess Smarty Pants Breaks The Rules.

As a writer, I've been pretty disappointed with the way girls are represented. That's one of the things that have prompted me to write my "Act Normal" series (the first one has just hit the top 3 position in Amazon's kindle chapter books bestseller list )

I think one problem is that traditional (paper) publishing of children's books is so costly (because they need illustration, colour pages, big print, etc) that publishers have to really focus on what they know they can sell.

Going digital only with my series has meant I can take more risks with character and presentation (to example, releasing two versions of each book for different reading levels, and having a female character who is interested in science rather than fairies!).

I was just going to come on here and say 'Zog' too!

Princess Smartypants
Rhinos don't eat pancakes
The Tiger who came to tea
Winnie the Witch series
Meg and Mog series