Gavin Leonard got so sick of hearing people say his daughter was 'a princess' that he decided to write a book about it. Not Just A Princess follows Jade, a princess and pilot, as she flies her plane around the world to help out her princess friends who double-job as vets and mechanics. Gavin sat down with Kathryn Thomas in studio this afternoon to tell her how the book series came about.
It started with well-wishers, Gavin explained.
"When she was really small, everyone would come over and say, 'Oh, she's such a little princess' and 'she's going to be a model or an actress' or things like that and those are fine but I was like, she's also very clever and she's like, intelligent. So, you could say she's a princess and something else. So, I was constantly saying to people, she's not just a princess."
Gavin's mother set her sights on Jade being an Irish dancer but, as Gavin explained, he thinks she could pay tribute to her Asian heritage (Jade's mother is Chinese).
"She could be a Kung Fu fighter, it's the same kind of kicks only someone's in the way."
An artist friend of Gavin's created drawings of Jade as a judge, a pilot and in other traditionally male-dominated professions. Gavin liked them so much that he decided he wanted to do more and started a blog that would be home to their adventures. Gavin took Jade to a fire station to be a fire fighter for the day. She's also been a life-guard and a zoo-keeper. An impressive CV for a 2-year-old.
"She had no idea what we were doing but she loved it."
Gavin told Kathryn that the aim is not to take Jade away from typically 'girly' things but to expose her to experiences that are outside that norm. How would he react if Jade decided to become a dancer or a popstar, Kathryn asked?
"Once she's good at what she does and she's happy doing it, that's absolutely fine. It's just, I want her to be open to all the possibilities that she could have."
Follow their adventures at Not Just a Princess.
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