WASHINGTON — She’s evolved from White House correspondent to “Today” show host.
Now, Savannah Guthrie can add children’s author to the list with “Princesses Wear Pants,” co-authored by Allison Oppenheim, illustrated by Eva Byrne and published by Abrams Books.
“Alli and I had dinner together, and we were bonding and laughing about how both of our little girls are so into princesses,” Guthrie told WTOP. “We like princesses as much as the next person, but we were just marveling and wondering: Where does this come from? Did we somehow inadvertently turn them onto princesses? Is it in their DNA? What is this all about?”
Oppenheim, a clinical psychologist married to NBC News president and “Jackie” screenwriter Noah Oppenheim, says her daughter refuses to wear pants.
“She wears either what she calls tutus, which are skirts, or polyester princess costumes with tiaras,” Oppenheim said. “It’s really adorable, we champion it and we took her to Disney World, which sealed the deal. But we do have a weather challenge, because a jacket would mess up her outfit, and I was also just wondering: what is this thing that has a hold on her?”
So, she had an important mother-daughter talk.
“I asked her, ‘Ila, what’s a princess?’ She’d say, ‘Mommy, it’s a lady who wears a big ball gown.’ So I said, ‘What does a princess do?’ She didn’t really know, so I thought, well OK, a princess is a person who’s important, she’s special, she’s a woman in a leadership role. What do women in leadership roles do? So we thought about: let’s take this girl, our character, and make her a part of a conversation about what women can do and be, beyond the pink and sparkles.”
Together, they found inspiration in a rather sporty photo of a real-life princess.
“She went so far as to print out a picture of a real princess, Duchess Kate Middleton, playing rugby,” Guthrie said. “She said to her daughter, ‘See, Ila? Princesses wear pants!” And when Alli told me that story, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Princesses Wear Pants! That could be a book!’ That’s how we came onto the idea. The pants are just a way to talk about the different and important things a little girl can do — and how sometimes our dresses do get in the way.”
Thus, the heroine Princess Penelope Pineapple was born, with “brown eyes, pink cheeks and pigtails of fame.” She can “paint, sing and dance, but did you know about her collection of pants?” Facing pushback from the more traditional Lady Busyboots, Penelope secretly wears pants under her ball gown, which allows her to climb and save a cat during the climax.
“We wanted it to be a good kids story, so we needed a villain, but it is nice that Lady Busyboots doesn’t remain stuck in her ways; she has an open mind,” Guthrie said, to which Oppenheim added, “The whole idea of old school, new school, be who you want — it was such an honor to partner with Savannah, who is a real-life Princess in Pants. She’s a woman, a girly girl, but she does what she wants. She does important and substantive stuff.”
In this way, the book champions evolving feminist ideals without sounding preachy.
“It’s not anti-princess; it’s telling little girls you can be whatever you want,” Guthrie said. “We aren’t saying you can’t wear dresses or have sequins; our book has glitter on the cover! We’re totally into it, and we’re girly girls! As a parent, I don’t want to discourage Vale if she wants to be a ballerina or a princess. But I hope she is also thinking more deeply about it. There’s a line in the book: ‘It’s time to give princesses a second look.’ Let’s think more substantively.”
Of course, even Dr. Seuss would have a hard time rhyming with “substantively.”
“It doesn’t roll off the tongue,” Oppenheim joked. “The rhyming was really important to us. We started by thinking about what were our favorite children’s books [and] mine were the ones that were very musical, that are fun, that roll off the tongue, that are playful. … It’s a book that we enjoy sitting down with our kids to read and we hope a lot of moms will feel the same.”
Both Guthrie and Oppenheim understand the importance of parents reading to children.
“If you’re reading to them, by definition, you’re close to them,” Guthrie said. “You’re holding them, you’re sitting with them, you’re sharing something with them. Hearing mom’s voice is something that kids connect to from the tiniest age. When they’re newborns, they recognize their mom’s voice from the get-go, which is beautiful. So even when my kids were babies, I’d still read books to them because they enjoy hearing the voices of their moms and their dads.”
Even if you’re a single guy, you still might want to keep a copy handy.
“If you have ‘Princesses Wear Pants’ on your bookshelves, I think the chicks will love it,” Guthrie said, laughing with Oppenheim. “You’ll be woman magnets!”
Click here for more. Listen to our full chat with Savannah Guthrie and Allison Oppenheim below:
