Pistes d'exploration

Discuss the message behind the story. What is the author trying to tell the reader about princesses/girls?

Using this book, along with a fairy tale that includes a princess, compare and contrast the way princesses are depicted. 

Make a list of the activities that princesses can do, according to the book. Are there any activities a princess can NOT do?

List things that princes can or can’t do. Rewrite the story with them in mind.

Discuss the way princesses are portrayed in this book, how they dress, what they do.

Make a list of the activities that princesses can do, according to the book. Are there any activities a princess can NOT do?

Using a graphic organizer, write a list of activities you can do. Compare your list with the activities a princess can do.

Princess Smartypants, The Paper Bag Princess, A Bad Case of Stripes, Olivia and the Fairy Princesses

Mots-clés

Picture book , deconstructing stereotypes , gender roles , individuality , princesses , self-confidence , stories in rhyme

Commentaire descriptif

Not all princesses dress in pink. Some “when they choose, never pick out fancy shoes.” Others “roll around, wrestling on the muddy ground.” But that's not all. In this exuberant read-aloud that contradicts traditional gender roles, girls play sports, drive trucks, use power tools and more—all while wearing their sparkly princess crowns and jewels (as well as body armour, hand-me-down shirts, overalls and bright red socks that stink). In one double-page spread, a party of princesses in grease-stained play clothes—and crowns of course—gobble turkey legs and hand-feed their pet dogs. A departure from conventional princess tales, the book employs lighthearted rhyme (including a short, repeated tag-line) and bright, snappy illustrations to drive home its empowering message that girls don't have to fit into a prescribed mold. They can even use their “princess power” to fight evil sorcerers and knights. Like the book’s heroic, self-possessed characters, they can do and wear whatever they choose. Sometimes, that means getting down and dirty.