Pinkalicious

Stephanie is finally at a stage where she will sit and let me read book after book to her. She pays attention, she points things out, she really understands the plot. She has an amazing ability to retain the gist of the story, and i'll find her "reading" books to herself, retelling the story as she remembers it. We read morning noon and night, and she always asks for "Just one more book!"

Being a huge book lover myself, I am delighted with this phase. I especially adore children's literature and I spend a lot of time poring over book choices for her at the library, in the bookstore, and on Amazon. Since she likes a wide variety, I am able to find so many that keep both of us interested.

However, despite the wide variety of books she is exposed to, she has latched onto one in particular that we read over and over and over. That would be:

When I first read the book, I found myself rolling my eyes. The main characater, Pinkalicious, eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink. When she looks in the mirror she cries because she's so beautiful. In order to return to normal the doctor tells her she must eat a steady diet of green food, which pinkalicous deems "gross." Many of those foods are things Stephanie adores like grapes and cucumbers. When Pinkalicious finally decides to eat them, she has to hold her nose and says she "gags" as she eats them. I wondered what message reading this book would send to her. Green foods aren't gross! I'm proud that my kid loves them and don't want her to start emulating this character.

I figured we didn't have too much to worry about since it was a library book. And Stephanie isn't particularly a girly girl, and even if she was, I figured the story itself wasn't really intriguing enough for her to latch onto. But of course she did. After we read it the first time, she asked for it every single night for the three weeks we had the book checked out. She loved it so much, and was always reading it to herself if I wasn't reading it to her.

As I read it over and over, it started to grow on me. The silliness became sweet, and what I had oringally considered ridiculous became endearing. (Oh, and Stephanie never once seemed to make the connection between her green foods and the "gross" ones that Pinkalicous was forced to eat.) I realized that the moral of the story is actually about being happy to be yourself which is something I think is important for little girls to hear.

When we finally returned the book, Stephanie was devastated. We had literally read this book every single day, and suddenly it was gone. Luckily, the Easter Bunny decided that it was important for Stephanie to own it, so he delivered it to her in her Easter Basket.

Easter morning, discovering Pinkalicious in her basket

We have read it every day since Easter. Often twice a day. It continues to be charming, and I can recite it by heart without glancing at the words. Despite my original opinions, I say give it a chance. If you have a little girl, or know a little girl, Pinkalicious is worth checking out. It comes "Baby Makes Four" recommended!

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