The Thinking Girls Treasury of Real Princesses

I was at the American Library Association (ALA) annual meeting in New Orleans and met some of the wonderful women of Goose Bottom Books (including the author, Shirin Yim Bridges, who penned this wonderful collection and is pictured here in front of her books). I was there in the first place because I am on the board of a small non-profit that publishes four books aimed at children who have cancer and their families. We are trying to get libraries to consider buying these books, so we got a table in the exhibition hall, where we found ourselves surrounded by other small publishing groups. I was there with my two eldest sons, and we are definitely book people at heart--but the sorts of things the people around us were doing, in terms of creativity and uniqueness, was impressive. Just our kind of people, it turns out.

My favorite of the group was the Goose Bottom Books people. I really loved their idea. They have a wonderful line of books aimed at younger girls and one that is about to 'hatch'. The initial premise is that girls are smart--they want to think about things, and they want to learn. Learn about what? How about learning more about real women? People who actually existed, who took charge of their lives and made a difference. Some we have heard of, some we have not. The series take a world-wide look at women of history--the series on princesses includes: Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia of Caria, Sorghaghtani of Mongolia, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, Isabella of Castile, and Nur Jahan of India. All the major empires of the ancient world are represented, but most will be unfamiliar names--only Isabella, who along with her husband Ferdinand sponsored Columbus' voyage, is liekly to be recognized. So through these books, young girls (and boys) can learn about the early and second wave empires of the world. Brilliant!
The series about to come out is The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames--women who are more infamous than famous--this crew includes a fair share of familiar faces--Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary", Elizabeth's half sister), Marie Antoinette, and Cleopatra, to name a few.