To be more than a princess with these new children's books

THE quest to convince her son and daughter there is more to life than being a princess has resulted in a fifth book for Suffolk Park author Samantha Turnbull.

GIRL POWER: Suffolk Park author Samantha Turnbull with her fifth novel in The Anti-Princess Club series, Cruise Control. Picture: Cathy Adams

THE quest to convince her son and daughter there is more to life than being a princess has resulted in a fifth book for Suffolk Park author Samantha Turnbull.

Ms Turnbull's latest novel, Cruise Control, part of The Anti-Princess Club series published by Allen & Unwin, came out this week.

Aimed at 7-11 year olds

The series, aimed at ages seven to 11 years, evolved after the birth of Ms Turnbull's first child, when she noticed the need for stronger girl characters on children's book shelves.

"When I had a daughter five years ago, I noticed that princesses completely dominated many shop bookshelves," Ms Turnbull said.

"So I deliberately set out to write a series that featured girls who dared to be different and would never need rescuing by a prince or knight in shining armour."

Hit a chord

The books have hit a chord with kids, with her publisher commissioning another book in the series only eight months after the first ones were published.

"I'm so happy that the first four books have sold so well and I got to write a fifth," Ms Turnbull said.

"It's the best feeling when kids say they love the books because, even though they have messages and morals, the most important thing is that kids enjoy the stories and are entertained.

"I think the success of the books has shown kids are more open-minded than a lot of marketers give them credit for. Cliched princess stuff might sell well in general, but The Anti-Princess Club has proven that kids want diversity and that we're not all the same."

Book signing

Ms Turnbull will be at the Lismore Book Warehouse on Saturday to sign books with fellow author Candida Baker, from 11am.