Spunky princesses unite!

Librarians are awesome and children's librarians are amongst the best of the best. I often want to hug them. They tend to handle with aplomb strungout parents and wailing kids, sticky fingers and mislaid library cards, strange queries, endless decoration of the section (they must have librarian-teacher decor meetings). And in their quiet moments, they search their collections for housebound granparents.

Here is a delightful list for younger readers about spunky princesses. It was created by a friend of my mum's who works for Westmount Library.

1) Author : Waddell, Martin.
> Title: The tough princess / written by Martin Waddell ; illustrated by Patrick Benson.
> Imprint: London : Walker, 1986.
> Description : [26] p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.

> 2) Author : Gilman, Phoebe, 1940-2002.
> Title: The balloon tree / written and illustrated by Phoebe Gilman.
> Imprint: Richmond Hill, Ont. : North Winds Press, 1984.
> Description : [32] p. : col. ill.
>
> Topical subject : Princesses--Fiction.

> 3) Author : Minters, Frances.
> Title: Sleepless Beauty / by Frances Minters ; illustrated by G. Brian Karas.
> Imprint: New York : Viking, 1996.
> Description : 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill.
> Summary : In this updated, rhyming retelling of the traditional fairy tale, Beauty outwits the wicked witch and arranges for her own happy ending.
>
> Topical subject : Fairy tales--Adaptations. ; Stories in rhyme.
> Other authors : Karas, G. Brian. ill.
>
> 4) Author : Gilman, Phoebe, 1940-2002.
> Title: The gypsy princess / Phoebe Gilman.
> Imprint: Richmond Hill, Ont. : North Winds Press, 1995.
> Description : 29 p. : col. ill.
>
> 5) Author : Funke, Cornelia Caroline.
> Title: The princess knight / by Cornelia Funke ; illustrations by Kerstin Meyer ; translated by Anthea Bell.
> Edition statement: 1st American ed.
> Imprint: New York : Chicken House, 2004, c2003.
> Description : [32] p. : chiefly col. ill. ; 29 cm.
>
> Topical subject : Sex role--Fiction. ; Fairy tales. ; Princesses--Fiction. ; Knights and knighthood--Fiction.
> Other authors : Meyer, Kerstin, 1966-

> 6) Author : Gay, Marie-Louise, 1952-
> Title: Stella, princess of the sky / by Marie-Louise Gay.
> Imprint: Toronto : Groundwood Books, 2004.
> Description : [32] p. : col. ill.
>
> Topical subject : Night--Fiction. ; Brothers and sisters--Fiction.

> 7) Title: The paper bag princess / story, Robert N. Munsch ; illustrations, Michael Martchenko.
> Imprint: Toronto : Annick Press, c1980.
> Description : [27] p. : col. ill. ; 21 cm.

> 8) Author : Funke, Cornelia Caroline.
> Title: Princess Pigsty / by Cornelia Funke ; illustrated by Kerstin Meyer ; translated by Chantal Wright.
> Imprint: New York : Chicken House/Scholastic, c 2007.
> Description : 1v. (unpaged) col. ill.
> Summary : Tired of being a princess, the youngest of three sisters throws her crown out the window and finds happiness working in the royal kitchen and pigsty.
>
> Topical subject : Princesses--Fiction. ; Self-actualization (Psychology)--Fiction.
> Other authors : Meyer, Kerstin, 1966- ill.

> 9) Author : Funke, Cornelia Caroline.
> Title: A princess, a pirate, and one wild brother / Cornelia Funke ; illustrated by Kerstin Meyer.
> Imprint: New York : Chicken House, 2008.
> Description : 83 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.
> Contents : The princess knight -- Pirate girl -- The wildest brother.
>
> Topical subject : Princesses--Fiction. ; Knights and knighthood--Fiction. ; Imagination--Fiction. ; Pirates--Fiction. ; Brothers and sisters--Fiction. ; Courage--Fiction. ; Humorous stories. ; Sex role--Fiction. ; Fairy tales.
> Other authors : Meyer, Kerstin, 1966- ill.


Next up will be chapter books with these feisty heroines.