The Anti-Pink Proclamation: Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen and Heide Semple

NOT ALL PRINCESSES DRESS IN PINK.

SOME PLAY IN BRIGHT RED SOCKS THAT STINK.

BLUE TEAM JERSEYS THAT DON'T QUITE FIT.

ACCESSORIZED BY A BASEBALL MITT

AND A SPARKLY CROWN.

Ever since Jane O'Connor's Fancy Nancy came upon the scene to make the world safe for girly girls, the picture book genre has been plastered with plenty of piquant pinkanista heroines. Now comes Jane Yolen and Heidi Semple with a simple rhyming plea for ordinary girls, those for who eschew their ball gowns for baseball jerseys or carpenters' aprons as well as those who combine their haute couture with handygirl craftmanship:

SOME PRINCESSES WEAR THEIR JEWELS
WHILE FIXING THINGS WITH POWER TOOLS.

Caldecott-winning author (for Owl Moon) Jane Yolen links up with daughter Heidi Semple in this rhyming tribute to those "princesses" among us for whom those royal trappings are a minor consideration. These princesses do keep their crowns, wearing them proudly while they pursue their own interests, whether carpentry, soccer, pumpkin-growing, or jousting in chain mail, reminding us that all our girls can sparkle in their own way, whatever they do.

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink (Simon & Schuster, 2010) is a light-hearted little spoof of the many pink princess wannabe books that even the spiffy Nancy Clancy would enjoy, unself-consciously illustrated by Sophia Longuentin, and crowned with the simple theme that in the real world what you can do is more important than what you wear.