The Princess or the Knight?

For several months now, I think since she read Cornelia Funke's wonderful Igraine the Brave, my daughter has had a sort of ice breaker/litmus test question she likes to ask of people. Actually, she only asks it of females ever since her brothers both answered the question with a snotty kind of "Duh" in unison. The question is this: Would you rather be the princess in the tower or the knight who saves her? The princess must sit up there, bored and waiting for rescue while the knight must endure hardship and danger. My daughter is certain she would prefer to be the knight. I generally agree, although on certain crazy days, a few months in a quiet tower sound idyllic. In any event, after reading Rapunzel's Revenge (remember how badly I wanted to read it back in December?), we both want to be Rapunzel. In this fantastic retelling by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated as a graphic novel by Nathan Hale, Rapunzel is a real grab life by the horns type of girl. This version is a twist on the original story, keeping the long hair but setting Rapunzel's story in a sort of Wild West fairy tale land. She teams up with Jack (yes, of the beanstalk) in a witty and fast paced plot. Her adventures made my daughter and I jealous, and the illustrations and humor left us wanting a sequel. This book would make a great gift for tweens and older girls who appreciate comic books and girl power.

The Best Morning Ever

Around 9:30 am, my five year old son Ethan announced that he was having "the best morning ever!" His summer vacation has begun while his older siblings were still in school. The best morning ever included drinking a YooHoo in the living room (with a warning to keep that on the qt) and being read to from The Avengers: The Dream Team. I just don't get it. The YooHoo, yes, but not the superheroes. I can admire Storm, Iron Man, the Hulk and the others' colorful costumes (outfits? uniforms?) and their powers, but the plots all seem the same to me. Not Ethan. He loves to hear the stories, retell them, and act them out. Even though I'd much prefer a good picture book read with him, I'm happy to share our morning with Marvel comics because I love to see my little boy so engaged by any book. And if I'm willing to provide more YooHoo, and play the role of Giant Girl in a reenactment, this might be the best afternoon ever (for Ethan).

Wonder Woman

Several weeks ago, my five year old son Ethan and I were discussing Batman and Spiderman. Out of the blue, he asked me, "Mom, do you know why Wonder Woman only wears her underwear and high heels?" I thought about saying that it's because men draw her, but I told him I'm not sure, and I pointed out that she does wear bullet-deflecting bracelets. Needless to say, I was not satisfied with my answer. I remembered that my daughter Hayden had a Wonder Woman easy reader that she had loved when she was in preschool and kindergarten. Apparently Ethan had never seen it, because I also remembered that the Wonder Woman in that book was not a busty, scantily clad, crimefighting sexpot, but an athletic, more appropriately dressed, adolescent. What I could not remember was where that book was. So I began a search that took about two and a half weeks.

In the meantime, I asked some women friends how they might have answered Ethan's question. It was suggested that I refer him to the women's studies department of a local university. My friend Maureen quickly came up with a good theory that too much clothing would compromise the effectiveness of Wonder Woman's invisible airplane. My brilliant and very stylish sister-in-law Jane, wise to the ways of comic book heroes and villains, came up with my favorite answer: Wonder Woman wears only her underwear and high heels, "so she can attract the bad guys, then stomp on their instep with her stilettos."

When I stopped laughing, I eventually found Hayden's old book. As soon as I had it in hand, I recalled that it is one in a series, and we had borrowed others from our public library several times when Hayden was younger. They are even better than I remembered! The 32 page I am Wonder Woman, written by Nina Jaffe and illustrated by Ben Caldwell, is fantastic. Each page has limited text which benefits a beginning reader without sounding babyish. "Even though I can run the fastest and leap the highest, to laugh and play with my friends is best of all. That is the Amazon way." I love the accompanying images of the other Amazon girls engaged in sports and games with Diana (aka Wonder Woman).

Ethan and I spent some time this week reading these books together. I was happy that Wonder Woman looks more like a real girl than the other images he had seen of her. He thought it was cool that she can play tag with dolphins. Hayden was happy that I had found an old favorite to revisit.

These excellent paperbacks are available, new and used, from Amazon and may even be at your public library