Not Quite Snow White

Title: Not Quite Snow White

Author: Ashley Franklin

Illustrator: Ebony Glenn
Review by Erin Paul

Not Quite Snow White is about Tameika, a young black girl who loves to sing and dance.  For Tameika, the whole world is her stage.  When auditions for Snow White: The Musical are announced, she is beyond excited to become a princess.  However, at auditions Tameika overhears some of the other kids whispering about her, saying she’s “too chubby” and “too brown” to be Snow White.  When she goes home, her parents reassure her that she has all the right ingredients to be a princess, because Snow White is just pretend.  Can Tameika overcome the judgments of her peers to become the perfect Snow White?

This book is perfect for young audiences but will be enjoyed by older audiences alike.  The illustrations are bright and colorful, the protagonist is sweet and determined, and the message asks us a question that is relevant to so many young children today: does skin color and physical appearance define what I can and cannot be?  Our society vastly has limited depictions of black girls (especially as princesses) in the media.  This book is also highly relevant to the current controversy surrounding the casting of the live-action Ariel.  Why should skin color determine who can and cannot be cast as Ariel?  What does this controversy tell young girls about who they can and cannot be?  This book will help young readers explore their identities and determine who they want to be for themselves, regardless of what society is implicitly telling them. 

I recommend this book to young children, regardless of race, gender, or culture.  I think this book opens up dialogue regarding what it means to be a person of color and to have dreams and aspirations without limitations.   When the world wants to tell you what you can and cannot be, this book helps adults facilitate a conversation challenging us to ask WHY.