Texts shape us by reflecting the politics and values of our society.
- Mem Fox
Happy 2020! It’s a new year, and I have decided to document and share books I read, no matter the reason.
On the eve of 2020, I was out with some friends for a New Year’s Eve supper. While talking about her grand-kids, one friend asked if I knew the book Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. She said she loved the strong female character portrayal, and she had just purchased a copy for her granddaughters.
"Elizabeth" I said, in my best storytent voice, "was a beeuuuutiful princess…!” Yes, I know this story. I love this story. I could quote whole passages, and I dressed up as the paperbag princess one Hallowe'en not long ago.
Listening to her talk about Munsch's book, I thought I heard her saying she wanted to provide her granddaughters stories with strong female characters. I know this is an important idea for her: She is a strong female herself and so are her two daughters.
Later that evening, at home helping my 25-year old daughter pack (she's getting ready to move), I noted some of the picture books she'd chosen to keep on her bookshelf: The Balloon Tree by Phoebe Gilman; The Paint Box by Maxine Trottier; and The Seventh Door by Michael Leach. I sat down and re-read them to myself. Here were more popular children's books with strong female characters.
Then I excitedly looked to my own picture book shelf to see what other titles my daughter and I might have read and held on to. I found - and immediately re-read - The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash, Maxine’s Tree by Diane Carmel Legere, and Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully.
I started to make a mental list of these books, thinking I would share the titles with my friend. Then I went looking for pre-made lists online.
According to Goodreads, there are over 250 books with "strong, independent, resourceful female characters [f]or readers who are tired of reading about females only as family caretakers and/or as princesses who are rescued by a prince." A site called Amightygirl.com lists the "Top 100 Mighty Girl Books." A site called Notimeforflashcards.com offers "Picture Books About Strong Girls."
Well, I couldn't read all these books before bedtime, but I was pleased to see The Paperbag Princess is on all three lists. Go Elizabeth! And that was how I read in the New Year.
Cheryl Brown is co-creator of the Storytent and Bookwagon programs, QLNB's Community Literacy Coordinator, and long-time advocate for and facilitator of a variety of family literacy initiatives.
