princess books from my childhood

 Hi Princess!

Today I'm bringing you a different type of post about books. Instead of a review of a book I'm reading now I wanted to do a post about some of the books from my childhood that I feel really shaped the Princess I am today. Most of them, I've thrown away over the years, but some I've kept because they were so specifically beloved by me. I'm staying at my parents for the weekend, so have access to them again. These are the books I'll be focusing on today!

I think that the interests we held as a child often make their way back to us or never really leave us. I've thought a lot about how deeply these books impacted me as a child. In many ways, they influenced my taste in aesthetics and probably even some of the books I'm drawn to today. To be honest, I'd absolutely love to find a book that makes me feel the same way that the Tiara Club made me feel as a child. That series was probably my favourite.

Without further ado, lets look at some stars of tiny Princess Cloudy's bookshelf (which had heart shaped cutouts and the books were accompanied by several my little pony dolls) 

as a note, some of the images are really compressed, annoyingly, but will look better if you click on them!  

Princess Poppy - Janey Louise Jones

 

Princess Poppy was a series about a girl living with her family in the most idyllic fictional English countryside village, 'Honeysuckle Hill'. Each book opened with a beautifully illustrated map that I used to absolutely adore looking over, totally jealous that I didn't live in such a quaint little village.

The Princess Poppy books were mostly picture books, but the series had some early reader fiction books as well. This was really great because it meant as my reading skills developed, I could stay with the same characters and world that I knew and love. Princess Poppy wasn't a Princess in the sense that she had a title and lived in a castle, the series was all about how Poppy, though always a Princess in the eyes of her parents, didn't always act like a Princess. The books usually contained important lessons for children like learning to share, being patient and talking about your problems. They taught that kindness and honesty was an incredibly necessary trait to be a true Princess. These mini moral lessons definitely resonated with me as a child, though I was quite sensitive so I'd sometimes get stressed when Poppy got in too much trouble. For example, in one book she rips her cousins wedding dress just before the ceremony when she secretly tries it on and trips over the skirts. That specific book stressed me out so much I remember getting my mum to skip those pages. As I say, very sensitive. 

 

As you can see (hopefully, with how compressed these images are!), the illustrations contained within the Princess Poppy picture books were beautiful water colours, and they were super detailed. I could stare at them for ages! They also all contained a tiny envelope on the first page which contained a letter from Princess Poppy with a little craft or activity on the back. What a sweet idea! My favourite Poppy book was called The Fair Day Ball. It was all about Poppy and her best friend Honey learning that sometimes they had to work for the things they wanted, being all the pretty things they saw that the market stalls in the fair. After a day of going around the fair and helping people out, Poppy;s parents reveal that they've put together the most gorgeous Princess present baskets. As a child, I was enchanted by this idea. I wanted a Princess themed present basket so badly! I still do as an adult... maybe I'll put one together for myself one of these days! I think, as a child, I was able to see myself in Princess Poppy, which is probably why her books had such a big impact on me!  

princess basket checklist: tiaras, perfume, lip cream, jewellery (by the looks of it) and dresses! seems doable...

 The Tiara Club - Vivian French

 

 I think I got my first tiara club book set at a book fair that came to my school when I was around 6. If you ever read the Rainbow Magic series, the tiara club was similar in concept. You could buy each six book series as a set, and it would all be themed around the same group of friends. It is the first set of these that I hung onto, along with a Tiara Club activity book that I absolutely loved. It was about a boarding school (or several schools, a school system? a campus? they went to a new school/school building every year but kept the same staff... I'm not sure how it worked) where the students learned to be perfect Princesses and had to earn Tiara points to progress into the next year, which added stakes to each series. What immediately grabbed my attention as a child (aside from the girly covers and fabulous outfits), was one of the first pages of every book - a list detailing what every princess had to bring with them for their stay at each school. A list of things required for students of the Princess lifestyle. I must've read this page thousands of times just imagining what I'd bring with me, and what my dresses would look like. It also provided a list of all the classes provided each year. 

 Alongside these books, which contained really fun stories based around one of the main 6 characters (my favourites were Sophia and Daisy) going on princess/fairytale themed adventures, there was an activity book that I got for Christmas one year. Honestly? That one might've been my favourite, which you can maybe tell due to the stickers I decided to put on it at some point or another. This book contained so much. Crafts, quizzes, how to draw guides, princess tips. This book is partially what inspired this blog, as I've always longed for another experience like this, geared towards older readers. I was so obsessed with Princesses and being one, I adored having a "guidebook" as such. Also? I love a personality quiz, always have, so those were absolutely my favourite bits. I made all my friends and family do them too, which was potentially a little annoying. Still, I'm going to make you do them right now (to the best of my ability, I'm going to share pictures of them here) 

Click on the image for a high res (readable) version. I got the second portrait along (sophia!)

Click on the image for a high res (readable) version. I got mostly B's!

The artwork in this book is really pretty, I'm amazed by how much it matches my current aesthetic sensibilities! I definitely think that, for many of us, our tastes change less than we think they do from childhood to adulthood. So often we feel pressured to give into the greige agenda and give up bright colours as immature and unprofessional, but it just isn't who many of us are deep down, and I reckon there are more people out there that secretly feel like this too. This page especially spoke to me:

 

This book also contained a map of the tiara club world, i.e. all the different school buildings. I loved this map SO much. Often my sister and I would just pretend it was an unrelated map of castles and decided who in our lives got to live where. 

 

There's lots of good options here, I feel like I'd pick either Pearl Palace or Emerald Castle as my home these days...

This series totally allowed me to escape into a world of princesses, and I loved it so much. Again, I would love something like this aimed at an older readership so if you know of anything that you think might be bearable for a gal in her 20s to read please do let me know. I love Uni but I'd leave it all behind in an instant if the Tiara Club came knocking, I won't lie to you...

Final thoughts

I'd love to know what books were your favourite, especially if you feel you still carry on parts of their messaging and/or aesthetics today. Had you heard of or read Princess Poppy or the Tiara Club? I also adored Rainbow Magic, Felicity Wishes and the Flower Fairies books, but I don't still own any of the first 2 and i felt the post was getting a little long. Honestly, I'd still be interested in picking up some Felicity Wishes books to look over again, I adore the art style! 

Thank you so much for reading!

 Until next time, live happily ever after!

xoxo