Very Little Cinderella by Teresa Heapy and Sue Heap

Perfect for:
Ages: 1.5-3
Occasion: birthday, Christmas

Before we talk about this book, I need to be honest about something. I do not like princesses* and have resisted them in our house for as long as possible (in other words, two years. The Bea now has more tutus than I have clothes). 

Princess outfits, princess crowns, tiny plastic heels. Argh! Our girls deserve a little more credit, right? Something more to aspire to than a princely husband and midnight rescue?

Get it together, Sir.

So, when I saw Very Little Cinderella on the shelf I had a moment of high horsedness and yes, dear readers, may have uttered an indignant, feminist tut as I leafed it's pages. And then - I giggled. For on those pages was every two year old I'd ever met. The "helping", the exasperation with adults who just don't get it, the determination, the fashion sense, the delicious pronunciation of yellow as "lello".

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Very Little Cinderella isn't quite the story we're used to. When Little Cinderella's sisters head out for the night, and she's left with the fairy babysitter, she decides to take matters into her own hands and attend the ball no matter what! Of course, disaster strikes when she loses her beloved lello boot - how will our heroine survive?

The happy ending awaiting our Little Cinderella is so sweet, and mercifully apart from her Disney alter ego.

I had to have this book for one of Rosie's best friends who, like Rosie herself, knows the value of a good lello boot and who never misses a good party. It's perfect for a 2 year old's birthday and their overworked, if adoring, Fairy Parent.

Teresa Heapy and Sue Heap have written two more in the series - Very Little Sleeping Beauty and Very Little Red Riding Hood. For me, they don't have quite the same charm as our Little Cinderella but are adorable all the same.

*Alright, I'll admit, recent additions to the Disney Princess roster are pretty impressive. Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel, Tiana - these are girls I can get behind.