Review of Princess BubbleAuthor: Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb PrincessBubble.comReview by D. Prince

H ow do we raise confident girls is the question most parents face today with all the mixed messages from the media and society in general about beauty, attaining happiness and success? If you take to heart the messages from the media and all of the fairytales, the way to true happiness is to be rescued by a prince and live happily ever after. Many little girls buy into that from the time they're old enough to read. After all, it's a fairytale. But wait, there are alternatives, the new message being that you can have a successful life and live happily ever after all on your own.

The authors of a new book, Princess Bubble, who as single women, realized that they already had a great life and didn't need to be rescued. Like Princess Bubble, the southern authors Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb are flight attendants who travel the world and have had many life experiences that lead to finding an alternative to "happily ever after." Princess Bubble in her desperation to find the right man and live happily ever after even joins Find Your Prince.com...but realized she was not trapped or had wicked stepsisters, but that she lead a pretty good life all on her own. The message really is to embrace all that you are and maybe realize that you can have that happily ever in your own way, that it is reachable for all of us...sans prince. If you find a prince, that's alright, but there's nothing wrong with being alone and happy.

I read a review where a father had concerns, "I wonder how you'd feel if the reverse idea were in this book: that boys don't need girls, that a man doesn't need a woman, that a man should find ways to be happy without a woman and forget about the opposite sex. I might be wrong, but, to me, this book is scary. I wonder about its motivation. It appears anti-male and propagandistic." Surely, he's reading way too much into the book, and missing the healthy message being sent out to young girls - that you should embrace the life you have and do all the things that bring you passion and joy, even if it's without a prince...it's by no means anti-men or anti-marriage, but an alternative message that lets young girls know it's okay to be self-sufficient and not be trapped in the linear expectations of the fairytales.

Princess Bubble is a 35-page, cute, illustrated book that can be read in a few minutes. It comes with adorable drawing from children around the world. I recommend this book to all girls old enough to read and retain the message that love and happiness comes from the inside; that strength and confidence comes from loving and being who you are and not chasing after some ideal. Of course, we older girls, sometimes, also need to be reminded of this message. "Our message is not anti-Prince," says Johnston on a segment of NBC's Today's Woman."..it's anti-'Damsel in Distress. We want every girl to know that they're a princess, that they're beautiful, they're valuable, that, they can have fulfilling lives..."