Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer

In this picture book starring the world’s most imaginative pig, Olivia embarks upon a quest for identity with very lofty goals—and being a princess is NOT one of them! Olivia is having an identity crisis! There are too many ruffly, sparkly princesses around these days, and Olivia has had quite enough. She needs to stand out! She has to be special! She wants to do more than just fit in! So what will she be?

Join Olivia on a hilarious quest for individuality, and rest assured, you won’t find THIS pig pleased to be in pink!

 

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I sometimes wonder who didn't go through a princess phase with their little girl. I'm sure there are many mother's out there that didn't. But it feels like a common thread among mother's I know. Our little girl went through a big princess phase. Right along with the "I only wear dresses the trill."  The princess phase came around age two and lasted until age 5. We're still somewhat in it but she's now gravitating towards superhero girl stuff. Well, outside of Elsa that is.

 

There was a part of me that thought "if I have to read one more princess story I just might poke my eye out!" So, when I came across the newest offering from Falconer, I was skeptical. I always loved Olivia and how Falconer brought a special uniqueness to the character. Something that kids loved and parents can chuckle over. So, I was hoping he had a new spin on the Princess world for Olivia.

 

This book has Olivia asking why everyone wants to be a princess. Why not a different type of princess, something unique and different? Olivia then goes through those options which one can inspire to be as a princess and also counterpoints to it. For example, what she was for Halloween...a hedgehog! I also loved that her mom pointed out that the year before she too wanted to be a princess. For the parent knee deep in the "princess" phase, this was the perfect book to read to my daughter. I actually didn't want to poke my eyes out since Olivia was giving my daughter more options to think about in the princess universe and that's all I can ask for when knee deep in the phase.