Done with Disney Princesses!! Looking for Alternatives.

I don't have any ideas, just wanted to say your note was refreshing. I hate the brainwashing of this Disney commercial stuff! Notice how in every story a) there is no mother figure and b) the girls are able to magically "change" a man who is difficult/unavailable/uninterested. UGH! All I can say is at least it's not Barbie. Not sure what I'll do once my little girl is too old for Dora. good luck!

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Both my daughter and son love princesses, Disney and otherwise. I just use the opportunity to talk about bad choices. Some examples: Such as with Sleeping Beauty we talked about "If some guy comes up to you in the woods and tells you that you are beautiful, you'd better run straight home!" LOL Or, the fact that Ariel "runs" away because she is upset at her father, we talk about making a better choice. And we also talk about the fact that Ariel's father was a bit dramatic and should have talked with his daughter instead of yelling and acting out in a destructive manner.

Now, we obviously don't do this EVERY time we read a story, but there are definitely opportunities to turn some of these stories around. Kids are pretty intuitive, and once they start picking apart a story, they show amazing insight. I guess one could say it is the first step down the path of literary criticism. :)

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Here are a couple books with alternative views:

The Paper Bag Princess (munsch)
Prince Cinders
Princess Smartypants
Sleeping Ugly

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Check out anime films by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. We loved My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. They both have wonderful main characters that are girls and the stories are beautiful. It is refreshing to me that the conflicts revolve around real life issues as opposed to the typical disney-fied battles against evil. The magical elements are inspirational and the animation is beautifully done. Both of these films are from the late eighties, but timeless in my opinion.

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i grew up with the "free to be you and me" record, now available on CD, and it presents a view of boys and girls as equal. there's a fairy tale story on there which does not end with "getting married happily ever after."

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How about books from the American Girls series?

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I totally agree with the anti-commercialism. It's really ridiculous! I agree with Fancy Nancy as a good choice. My daughter LOVES those books. And we've gotten from the library which means FREE! Also, as far as I know, they're not commercialized. No "Fancy Nancy" lunchbox, backpack, toothbrush, etc. :-)

Generally, I'd say start exploring and steer clear of as much character-sponsored stuff as you can. The more non-character stuff you find, the more varied and interesting your collection of toys and books will become. BTW, I think the American Girl stuff is probably fine as far as the messages it sends, but it can get kinda pricey and it's a series itself. I think you can just buy the books, but if your daughter finds out there are the dolls, outfits and accessories, you may find she asks for more stuff, which may not be your goal.

Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck!
B.

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try american girls books or Junie B, better yet ask the local librarian :)

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I feel ya!
I have to say I started out with a dislike of the Disney princess-ization of everything for little girls, so my two (5 & 2) have only gotten them in small doses.

If your daughter is addicted to princesses, I would follow the Usborne rep's info in the previous post and wean her off Disney with other princess stuff. The public library can also be a good resource for you - search the catalogue or talk with a children's librarian.

For inexpensive fairy-tale retellings, check out AC Moore or Michals - in the bins where they sell books they often have single books and collections of fairy tale retellings that are all non-Disney. I've gotten my daughter several there - I especially love the illustrations!

For ideas of toys/activities for the holidays, check out http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/. I've ordered from them every year for the last couple of years - I don't think they have anything that is character-affiliated on the site - I love it! You can even set up a wishlist and email the link to family & friends to give them ideas of what to get and the resource for it.

Another site is: http://www.imaginetoys.com/ Here's something cute your daughter might like:
http://www.imaginetoys.com/store/p/1177-Country-Stable-Pl...

Another great resources for toys/activities as they get older is www.mindware.com - I've gotten a lot of gifts there, again almost no 'character' affiliation stuff.

Whether or not you buy from these sites, they'll give you some ideas to help get you out of your Disney-rut. = )

For further book recommendations, check out http://www.goodreads.com. Its a social networking site for readers, I have joined some of the book groups for childrens and YA books, and have gotten tons of great ideas/resources for childrens' books with great female characters.
Here's one for when your daughter is a bit older (or for you to read to her): "The Ordinary Princess" by Mary Margaret Kaye http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/674749.The_Ordinary_Pr...

Here's a link to a whole discussion titled "Alternatives to the helpless princess theme:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8176-alternatives-to-...

Hope this is all helpful - pm me if you'd like to discuss anything.
Good luck!

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My daughter (6) is also BIG TIME into princesses. The DISNEY princess obsession I blame on her cousins who own just about every DISNEY item there is. To combat this, I try to emphasize that she is God's Princess. I gave her a great book called HIs Little Princess by Sheri Rose Shephard which is "letters from God" which talk about how she is His princess and how she should act and that looks don't matter, etc. There are also books like "The Paper Bag Princess" which shows how a very clever princess out smarts a dragon to save the prince, and "The Princess and the Pizza" which is pretty funny. My daughter enjoys Gigi and loves the Fancy Nancy books. (Nancy dresses fancy but also likes to use fancy words (increasing vocabulary for your child.) My daughter LOVES dress-ups and I bought some really nice "princess" dresses that mimic the Disney princess look but are better quality. Looking forward to seeing what others suggest.

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Usborne books has a whole line of princess books that are high quality and not commercialized. Here is the link to the princess category: http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/results.asp?sid=X2492&amp....

I assume this is for your five year old. We have a great selection of classic princess stories without the Disney commercialization. For a 5 year old I would also recommend the following: "The Princess Treasury" which features stories of real life princesses (also available as a kit with a jewelry making craft). For gifts you could consider". The craft activity books "Princess Things to Make and Do"(also available as a kit with art supplies included) or "How to Draw Princesses and Balerinas" will help her explore how all princesses can be different and fun. If she is on the more advanced side or you would like to enjoy a book with her, "The Princess Handbook" discusses how princesses lived and what other things made a good princess(like good manners).

Hope those are some helpful selections for you to help her branch out. We also have great items in the fairy category.

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There is a sereis called Gigi God's little Princess which helps girls understand there importance to God you can get books dolls and DVDs on it and I think also a a dress up as well.

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Hi, SM; I like to read your posts!
There is a series of books called "Girls to the Rescue" that are short stories but I believe they may be out of print; they have tales of very empowered and active girls from many cultures. I also have a book called "Amazons" that is illustrated tales not just of, well, Amazons but girls across cultures who are smart and resourceful. Instead of looking for princess stories specifically, try looking for international or multi-cultural traditional/folk/fairy tales because I find these often include clever girls, from paupers to princesses, who outwit adults and boys alike. Go to the bookstore and library and get their childrens' specialists to help you; I'm sure they've been asked this before! You can also search the Fairfax County Library catalog online as a "guest" even if you don't have a library card, but talking to a children's librarian is your best bet.

You also could guide her toward kids' biographies of real women who have done great things -- for a little kid, the "around the world in 80 days" adventure of reporter Nellie Bly would be fun (and I think there's a kids' picture book about her). There are plenty of other women to choose from.

When your daughter is older, around 8 to 12 depending on her reading level, she may like "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine, a very good retelling of Cinderella; or "The Two Princesses of Bamarre" by the same author; or the "Rowan Hood" series of books by Nancy Springer, a series about Robin Hood's daughter (these are definitely for older kids as they involve battles, scary pursuits by bad guys, etc., and your daughter will enjoy these more if she is familiar with Robin Hood tales first). You'll find a lot of options for now and later once you look!

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Try Fancy Nancy...my 4-year old loves her.

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My daughter out grew it on her own - I don't think 'looking pretty for prince charming' will scar her - I always dressed up and played with Ken and Barbie when I was little and I have a healthy self-image....I think it's all make-believe and she will be fine. I would probably get sick of buying the same thing all the time too, though, so I started getting my daughter the little baby dolls that you buy bottles and blankets and stuff for so she could pretend being 'mommy' and it is really good for her since I'm pregnant as well, and I will soon have a real baby. She will learn to help and maybe not be jealous in the meantime. Also - she likes Littlest Pet Shop, Tinkerbell fairies, etc.

I am also the mother of 2 girls, ages 6 and 9. I also really disliked all the princess messages and toys.

We encouraged games, crafts, books, outdoor playing. There are so many other kid movies than princess ones. Basically we just avoided it all and by the time they hit 7 or 8 they are done with the phase anyway.

The did dearly love the princess dress-ups, which they used constantly. Looking back, it was a good way to get their imaginations going. They have now grown out of those, too, and it's kind of sad!

Just encourage other things and don't encourage princess messages and you should be fine.

I would say American Girl, but seeing your girls' ages, I'd say it is too soon for that.

As far as other choices for toys and books for your daughters, why not try some European brands? Oompa toys (I think is what it is called) has a website online to order toys and other things for kids (all with a translation to English if needed). I think those toys are a nice fresh change to the repetitive styles of your average popular US toy. A couple of Brands I like are Haba and Kaithe Kruse.

I don't give my daughter much Disney princess. I vary it. I give her a little of this and that. Most of the Princess toys are junk I've noticed. My daughter plays with pet shop mostly.

I agree about trying to vary her toys...legos, mag neatos, and blocks could let her build houses and carriages for her dolls. Add a farm for animals, train tracks, etc.

Porter Library has two "updated" fairy tales that you might try and maybe other libraries have them too:
Rapunzel : a groovy fairy tale / retold by Lynn Roberts and she also updated Red Riding Hood, called "Big Red". Good luck!

My 3 almost 4 yr old daughter also loves Disney Princesses but she also loves scooby doo & spiderman aswell!! I know what you mean about it being all over everything and I also am sick of seeing & hearing about Princess Aurora & Ariel!! So to limit what she has and watches of this stuff we got her a Leapfrog Leapster and buy her games that are for learning , learn to spell and simple math , yes you can buy games that are charcters but you can also buy games that are not. My daughter loves this as much as the princesses , she also loves the old fashioned simple things like a pack of coloured pens and a coloring book.

A five year old girl should love the American Girls. Bitty Baby would be perfect, or a more grown up girl that favors your daughter. They even can have matching clothes.

Totally check out the American Girl Series ... dolls and books based on historical times. My nieces LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them. Costco or BJs also usually has a little book with something set at Christmas time. Here's a link:

http://www.americangirl.com/index.php

How about the American Girl Collection...they have great stories and beautiful dolls....good roll models......

In my mind, we've been lucky that our daughter was never a 'doll' girl. She loves to play with her horses. The only doll she really has is the vet she uses to treat them. Maybe try something generic like that that has no stigma/ads/tie-ins with it. She can pretend play and use her OWN imagination!