Books like Princess Smartypants
By Babette Cole
For the kid who already knows she doesn't need rescuing, Princess Smartypants turns the whole fairy-tale-wedding script upside down. Cheeky, defiant, and funny, with a wink at classic fairy-tale tropes.
Living right next door to the original Cinderella, a resourceful girl named Cinder Edna does the same wicked stepmother's chores but spends her time learning practical skills instead of moping — then the king announces a ball.
A girl with a distinctive ponytail watches her classmates copy her hairstyle no matter how she wears it, so she comes up with one final style meant to shake off every copycat.
A terrible king cares only about his own handsome face while his kingdom crumbles around him, until his fed-up subjects hatch a plan involving a mustache.
A confident Black boy affirms everything he is — creative, funny, brave, sometimes afraid, always resilient — celebrating his own worth in a string of joyful, declarative statements.
A humble slice of pie always pushes the spotlight onto everyone else, but a school project with his best friend Jake the Cake forces him to ask whether staying quiet is really so sweet.
An original poem celebrates girls and girlhood in all their forms, honoring how girls have shaped history while calling them to stand together and march boldly into the future.
A collection of twenty original poems, each one paired with a different technique for performing it out loud — from tongue twisters to whispers to poems built for a whole class to shout together.
A picture book celebrates girls being fully themselves — splashing in mud, running science experiments, reading under flashlight beams with friends — and redefines beautiful as brave, smart, and strong.
A boy settles into the barber's chair for a fresh cut, and with every snip of the clippers feels himself transform into something sharper, prouder, and more sure of who he is.
A little girl with kinky, coiling, curling hair needs an extra-special style for a big occasion, so her daddy steps in to figure out how to make her hair — and Zuri — happy.
A thoughtful girl whispers her wish to change the world to a paper crane each night, and slowly learns to push past feeling invisible so her light can shine.
A Siamese kitten with an overactive imagination transforms into El Skippito, a mask-and-cape sword-fighter, ready to take on banditos and a bad bumble-beeto to save the day.
