I have followed Gavin on his journey with daughter Jade in creating Not Just A Princess for several years now. When Jade was a baby lots of people said she could be a princess or a model but never things like an astronaut or the President. Gavin set out to break these gender stereotypes by teaching his daughter and other girls that they are ‘Not Just A Princess’.
When Jade was little Gavin would read books to her and complain to his wife about how females were portrayed in the stories. She challenged him to write his own stories, never expecting him to actually do it!
The brand new Not Just A Princess book set is made up of 3 different adventure story books plus a lovely glossy colouring book and sticker sheet. With Jade as the hero, each book has an exciting adventure to follow. There’s a sporting adventure, Christmas adventure and Aztec adventure to enjoy. Jade isn’t alone on her adventures either. She has her robot monkey companion Hou Hou by her side to join in the fun.
One of the books – ‘Jade’s Fan-tastic Athletic Adventure’ – is particularly special. It features a character called Nora who is based on a real life little girl. Real life Nora dreams of one day winning a gold medal in swimming at the special Olympics. The proceeds from this book go to Special Olympics Ireland and Down Syndrome Ireland. Both are such great causes and support Nora in following her dream.
The books are full of bright colourful illustrations on glossy pages. The text is a good size for young readers and each book has approximately 30 pages.
I think these books are amazing at encouraging girls to follow their dreams and be whoever they want to be. They inspire them to believe in themselves. Girls don’t need a hero to save them, they can do it themselves!
If you’d like to find out more about the books or to purchase a copy yourself please visit https://notjustaprincess.com/
