Goosebottom Books is a fledgling new press dedicated to ‘fun non-fiction’ for children.  It's first series, The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Real Princesses, was released last year and focuses on the lives of six real princesses throughout history. This event at Book Passage was celebrating the release of the second series, The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Dastardly Dames, which included the stories of six infamous women from history. 

Before the presentation, children were coloring in pictures of Dastardly Dames, such as Mary Tudor and Cleopatra. As friends, Andie, 6, and Charlotte, 8, were coloring, I asked them why they came to the book event. Andie said, “Because Charlotte was going to be here…”  Charlotte said,  “Because she (Andie) is my best friend and I really like to get away from my brothers…” 

The mission of Goosebottom Books is to fascinate girls with intriguing true stories about real women filled with lots of interesting facts. The presentation of the six Dastardly Dames did just that. Each of the six authors read a portion of their stories, filled with fascinating facts about their Dastardly Dame. 

When the presentation was over, I saw Charlotte and asked her what she thought, and with eyes wide open she said, “Awesome! I really want to get the books… I want the one about Cleopatra because I once read a story about her.” Charlotte was looking forward to learning more about Cleopatra and getting her book signed by the author. 

Gabby, 11, told me she came, “Because my mom knows some of the authors here … and she likes to write… I thought (the presentations) were really good… The Mary Tudor one was really interesting.”  She had purchased three of the books and was waiting to have them signed by the authors. She told me, “These were the ones I thought were the most interesting.” She chose, Marie Antoinette, Mary Tudor and Cixi, the Chinese Dowager Empress. 

These young girls were fascinated by these women in history and were looking forward to learning more about them.  Each of these beautifully illustrated books are presented in a rich historical and cultural context, including facts about the food they ate, the type of transportation they used, the fashion of their times, and even facts about their childhoods.  

As the authors signed books and spoke with their young fans, many feasted on food and drink. The center of the refreshment table displayed a large cake with a colorful picture of all the Dastardly Dames. And, as Marie Antoinette was thought to have said, “Let them eat cake!” And many of the children at the event did. 

Until next Wednesday, remember, it’s all “for the love of kids…” 

In joy, Marilyn