Giveaway: The Princess Problem

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

Many little girls are into princesses. Some are completely into princess culture, others merely interested as one of many pastimes. Rebecca Hains has written a book, The Princess Problem, that provides parents easy-to-implement strategies for taming the beast - as well as reasons for why it's important to provide balanced stories to kids.

Princesses are naturally appealing - feminine, popular, heavily marketed. But they can portray negative stereotypes about appearance, culture, and and gender. Even strong princess characters have significant drawbacks.

If you have daughters into princesses, this is a wonderful resource for improving media literacy. Even if you don't, it's important to have conversations with your kids about what their seeing. Openly point out the strengths displayed by princesses, but also have frank discussions about what's not realistic. Encourage your daughters to think outside the story for other options that could have happened. Don't buy toys just because they're "girl" toys - make sure it really matches your daughters' interests. And above all, be sure to celebrate your daughters for what makes them special, what makes them strong, what makes them wonderful, so they never have to wonder if they fit the right mold.

I have a chance to give away one copy of the book. To enter, leave a comment about why your daughter loves princesses. Deadline is September 6th.