It can be somewhat soul destroying to look upon the shelves of storybooks for little girls.
In 2011, is it too much to hope for books that show that the world doesn’t have to be pink and glittery? That adventures don’t have to revolve around the pursuit of shoes or princes?
Mischievous, outspoken and independent girls were depicted as evil creatures in works of moralising Victorian fiction. The obedient, quiet and plain girl was the model to aspire to. A girl needed to know her place in the world and do nothing to change it. Depressingly, the playful boy with a propensity for japery and adventure was a hero – boys will be boys and girls will shut up and go darn socks.
Has all that much changed? Yes, girls are allowed to be frivolous and like shiny new things without being considered the spawn of Satan, but that isn’t progress. Being a little girl has been dumbed down and packaged as a one-dimensional world of sparkly things. The roles are as clearly defined as they were back in the 19th century.
There has been an increase in brave and opinionated female characters, such as Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker, yet it appears that two of the most ground-breaking and, in many ways, feminist characters were created over 50 years ago. May I take the pleasure of introducing you to Madeline and Eloise?
Being a princess or a fairy doesn’t figure highly in the minds of these two literary heroines. Instead they are busy sticking it to the powers that be and breaking the rules. Whatever they want is happening and they sure as hell aren’t asking for anyone’s permission.
Eloise and Madeline may well live on opposite sides of the Atlantic, but they share a mindset and love of mischief that has captivated readers young and old for decades. With their unique takes on preppy chic, they were sporting snazzy Peter Pan collars before Marc Jacobs was a mere twinkle in his Mamma’s eyes.
These little girls may well be a bit naughty but in no way are they a bad example. They show that a little girl can question authority and be herself, even if that means annoying some people along the way. They show that being a girl is about being clever and brave, and that right there is what little girls need to be reading all about. Boys will be boys and girls will be girls; which, oddly enough, means whatever they want to be.
Eloise
On the surface, Eloise appears to live a pretty idyllic life. She lives on the tippy-top floor of the Plaza hotel in New York, has an adorable pug called Weenie and gets to travel the world. She has no grown-ups to answer to other than Nanny, her indulgent and constant companion. But there is a trace of sadness in her tale – why does a girl of six live in the lap of luxury yet never see her parents?
Any sadness Eloise may find in this is channelled into her life’s mission to make mischief. She tears around the Plaza terrorising the guests and staff. She travels to Paris and Moscow to see the sights and make new friends. Her proudest moment is being the youngest ever diplomat to travel behind the Iron Curtain. Her fans can skibble along to the Plaza to get a taste of her world.
Madeline
Tiny but mighty, Madeline is a feisty redhead who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “non!”. She lives in an old house Paris all covered in vines and has to travel everywhere with her friends in two straight lines. Her life is one of routine and obedience, and such conformity doesn’t sit well with Madeline and she will often be found breaking rank and finding her own adventures.
Her finest moment to date is when she told a lion “pooh pooh” as her classmates cowered behind their teacher, Miss Clavel. She's not scared of lions or, for that matter, anything else. It sometimes means that things go wrong but it never means that she gives up. You can pay her a visit by heading to Bemelman's bar in New York's Carlyle Hotel.
Image via Susansimon''s Flickr