7 votes

The Paper Bag Princess for all children

Posted by Catt
Tags: ask.recommendations, books.childrens

The Paper Bag Princess was an awesome book for little girls that I read when I was a little girl. And now that a lot of family and friends are having kids of their own, I was wondering anyone have any recommendations for similar books but for both genders?

9 comments

  1. aphoenix
    Link
    The Gruffalo The Gruffalo's Child Charlie Parker plays BeBop Any Dr. Seuss The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak Any Sandra Boynton books Cowboy Bunnies Little Blue Truck Goodnight Gorilla / 10...
    • The Gruffalo
    • The Gruffalo's Child
    • Charlie Parker plays BeBop
    • Any Dr. Seuss
    • The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak
    • Any Sandra Boynton books
    • Cowboy Bunnies
    • Little Blue Truck
    • Goodnight Gorilla / 10 Minutes til Bedtime (neither have much story, so you need to be creative, but kids love them)
    2 votes
  2. Catt
    Link
    I personally like the following: The Most Magnificent Thing MC is a girl, but I think it's a good read for both.

    I personally like the following:

    The Most Magnificent Thing

    MC is a girl, but I think it's a good read for both.

    1 vote
  3. [2]
    DanBC
    Link
    Julian is a Mermaid: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Julian-Mermaid-Jessica-Love/dp/1406380636 I haven't read it, but it's been recommended to me a lot, and it does look good. There are two main awards...

    Julian is a Mermaid: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Julian-Mermaid-Jessica-Love/dp/1406380636

    I haven't read it, but it's been recommended to me a lot, and it does look good.

    There are two main awards in the UK for childrens books: The CILIP Kate Greenaway award (which is for excellence in illustration) and the CILIP Carnegie award (which is for prose). These books often talk about the social stuff, or have better role models for young people. The archive shows a list of all previous winners. http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/archive.php

    There's a bunch of English publishers of children's books that you might want to follow on Twitter (or other social media) because every now and again they'll release a list of books with social conscience. Or maybe they'd respond to a request for information?

    On Twitter (in no order, and these cover a wide range of ages):

    1 vote
    1. Catt
      Link Parent
      Thanks! Can't wait to check them out.

      Thanks! Can't wait to check them out.

      1 vote
  4. [2]
    Cirrus
    Link
    Perhaps a little more mature than you are looking for, but Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time is a beautifully illustrated children's book about an island where humans and dinosaurs live in...

    Perhaps a little more mature than you are looking for, but Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time is a beautifully illustrated children's book about an island where humans and dinosaurs live in harmony. The author has a fantastic imagination, and the amount of detail that goes into the world-building is amazing. I mean, just look at this, this, and this. It's written in the first person as a travel journal by the main character. If you are planning to get the book, get the hardcover version. It has better quality for the art.

    1 vote
    1. Catt
      Link Parent
      Oh I love this. The art is amazing.

      Oh I love this. The art is amazing.

      1 vote
  5. [3]
    Reasonable_Doubt
    Link
    Do you mean books for both genders that stray from gender stereotyping? Sir Pete The Brave is similar to the example book, meant for learning readers.

    Do you mean books for both genders that stray from gender stereotyping?

    Sir Pete The Brave is similar to the example book, meant for learning readers.

    1. chocolate
      Link Parent
      The Paper Bag Princess is very problematic. The main female character is shown as virtuous (which is pretty standard) but the prince is depicted as vain and nasty. It was ok for its time (early...

      Do you mean books for both genders that stray from gender stereotyping?

      The Paper Bag Princess is very problematic. The main female character is shown as virtuous (which is pretty standard) but the prince is depicted as vain and nasty. It was ok for its time (early '80s?), but given the constant negative stereotypes about boys modern children are exposed to it is really inappropriate today.

      1 vote
    2. Catt
      Link Parent
      Maybe not going out of their way to challenge or stray from stereotypes, but are written without assuming. I guess I am not looking for another Paper Bag Princess in that it was written for girls...

      Maybe not going out of their way to challenge or stray from stereotypes, but are written without assuming. I guess I am not looking for another Paper Bag Princess in that it was written for girls still, though I wouldn't mind.

      Thanks for the suggestion, I will check it out.

      1 vote