By Sheila Welch
No Shrinking Violets: Strong Girl Characters
Sometimes you’ll hear talk of “boy” books or “girl” books. Whether you believe that such a divide exists or not, here are four books about girls who are as strong as any boy.
OUTSIDE OVER THERE is written and illustrated by the fabulous Maurice Sendak, who also brought to life a famous, fearless boy character, Max. In this book, which is reminiscent of a fairy tale, a little girl named Ida, is left in charge of her baby brother. While she’s distracted, goblins come and trade an ice baby for the real child. It’s up to Ida to figure a way to fool the goblins and rescue her baby brother. Each illustration in this beautifully designed book is like a carefully rendered stage setting and can be appreciated by all ages.
ELOISE by Kay Thompson is illustrated with delightfully expressive pen and ink drawings by Hilary Knight. Eloise is a little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel (her mother knows the owner) in New York City. She is totally rich, spoiled, brilliant, and very funny. Although presented in picture book format, this timeless story of a controlling child in an adult world, is appropriate for middle grade readers up through adults.
Katherine Paterson created an unforgettable girl in her classic, foster-child novel for fourth graders and up, THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS. Toughened by circumstances, Gilly is disgusted with her life and convinced that her birth mother loves her and will come rescue her from her most recent foster home with a pious old lady and a strange little boy. Although this gritty, realistic story does not have a traditionally happy ending, Gilly (and readers) will appreciate the subtle shift in Gilly’s character as she begins to understand the power of empathy and commitment.
RAMONA THE PEST by Beverly Cleary is part of a whole series of delightful stories about this character. Ramona is introduced in earlier books, but this is the first devoted to her and from her perspective. Ramona means well, but like many young children, her slightly off kilter view of the world can create problems for her and her family and even her kindergarten teacher. If you, as an adult, aren’t familiar with these books, you’re in for a treat. I’d recommend reading this book and the others aloud to your children (ages six to ten) so you won’t miss out on the fun.
Sheila Kelly Welch is a mother, grandmother and retired teacher. She’s been writing all her life and counts among her children’s fiction books Little Prince Know-It-All and A Horse for All Seasons. Sheila's most recent book, WAITING TO FORGET, published by namelos, has been selected by Bank Street College and Pennsylvania School Library Association for their lists of best-books-of-the-year.
You can learn more about Sheila on her web site.
