Two things for your modern daughters

Two gift ideas for those of you with young daughters:

1) The ''Dora the Explorer'' DVD series: An animated series of DVDs (presumably based on a t.v. show?), with a strong female lead character. My 2yo daughter loves 'em! Unlike ''Bob the Builder'', etc., the main character is female, and clearly the leader of the group. Plus, she's bilingual (Spanish), and teaches the viewer Spanish words (plus counting, etc.). Bonus: Her best friend is a monkey (named ''Boots'', because he wears red boots).

2) The book The Practical Princess, and Other Liberated Fairy Tales: Six fun stories, with princesses, castles, dragons, and etcetera -- except that the females are smart, competent, independent, and are more likely to rescue the princes than be rescued themselves. Plus, of course, it's well-written. Probably best for gradeschool kids (boys and girls, of course). It **may** be out of print, even if your daughter is pre-literate, it might be strategic to buy a used copy ahead of time, from your favorite on-line bookseller. (Also good for adults: They're fun stories!)


BTW, Jill Sobule is -- in my opinion -- a very good songwriter person. Famous for that ''I Kissed a Girl'' song, but the whole album (and most of her other albums) have intelligent, story-telling lyrics and catchy tunes.

In my opinion.


--GG