There are two books that are very popular in our house. Written by Heath McKenzie, I Wanna Be a Pretty Princess and I Wanna Be a Great Big Dinosaur are two books that encourage imaginative play, independence and individuality not to mention fancy dress!
I Wanna Be A Great Big Dinosaur is about a little boy who professes that “More than anything else in the whole wide world, I wanna be a great big Dinosaur!” A friendly T-Rex overhears this statement and offers to teach the boy all the skills necessary to be a great big dinsosaur. So he learns the basics: like ROARing, stomping and eating but then starts to discover some of the activities that little boys engage in. By the end of the story, the dinosaur reverses roles and wishes that more than anything else in the whole wide world he wants to be a little boy. And why not? Eating delicious foods more than just meat, reading, soccer and video games makes me want to become a little boy or girl again also. (Some days!)
I Wanna Be A Pretty Princess follows the same pattern. A little girls wants more than anything else in the whole wide world to become a pretty princess. A princess overhears and shows her the rudimentary requirements and etiquette required to being a pretty princess. The little girl is not completely thrilled with all these rules, so makes up her own rules. I must say I think the little girl literally rocks the princess role in her rainbow tights and tutu as opposed to the perfectly manicured princess with no room for error.
To be truthful, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book when I first read it. Maybe it was because my little girl, isn’t the princess type generally. She is more the super-girl, roaring dinosaur dress up girl normally (fits right in with her four brothers). She LOVES this book though and we have read it a million times, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating. (Sometimes the boys even request it when she’s not around, so that has increased the quota also) Maybe the encouragement towards self expression suits her?
These are a great addition to our kids library. Both books are loved by both boys and girls and are filled with vibrant and humorous illustrations and fun dialogue.
These books were gifted to us by Scholastic. All opinions are my own, of course!
2 Comments
These books look great! I think my dinosaur and princess loving girls would enjoy these. Love the pics of the kids in their dress up clothes 🙂
Dress up clothes make for the best photo ops! If you were going to choose between the two, don’t show your kids the pink cover and go straight for the dino book. It’s nicer. And girls can be dinosaurs too! (I have one who roars VERY loudly!)