A New Chapter for Girls Trend Points to Strong Heroines for Today's Young Readers

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IT WAS a moment of make-believe punctuated by reality.

My 4-year-old daughter, playing princess, demanded that the prince (me), slay the dragon (daddy). As prince, the modern but tired mom urged the short, energetic one: "You slay the dragon."

With her response, my heart sank. "Princesses don't slay dragons." Where had we gone wrong? We'd read hundreds of books to her, but had there been too much "Sleeping Beauty" and not enough "Amazing Grace"? Yes, her fascination with dolls, brides, rainbows, unicorns and all shades of pink are age-appropriate and all that, yet her firm opinion about princesses was disappointing. Parents who fear that their children's …