Princess Grace

Princess Grace

By Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying Hwa Hu

Multicultural Picture book for ages 7-9

Four stars

            The girls in Grace’s class will be princesses in the town parade, and Grace can’t wait.  She loves reading all the princess fairy talk books, but she is unsure of what to wear to the parade.  Her mother and her teacher, tell Grace about the famous princesses not in the fairy tale books, and Grace ends up wearing an African princess outfit.

            I thought this book was enjoyable, and has a very good story.  I feel that a lot of little girls could relate to Grace since she loves all the princess stories so much.  I remember when I was young I would try wear my princess crown and bossing my brothers around.  The thing I like most about this book is the multicultural aspect of it.  Hoffman brings in all these famous princesses around the world.             

            As a future teacher, my mind was racing with the possibilities of using this in the classroom.  First off you have the noticeable multicultural lesson.  You can expand that into a lesson about geography since the princesses are from all over.  Also, it is important to note that Grace is connecting with her identity and who she wants to be.  She didn’t want to be a frilly princess anymore, she wants to be strong princess now.