John Drumm Email & Phone Number

I'm a dad that wanted more empowering stories and messages for my then 2 ½ year old princess obsessed daughter. Concerned she would think she needed a prince to rescue her, that she was defined by the stereotypes in those stories, or limited in any way by life circumstances, I started to ad-lib the classic fairy tales with things like, ‘And then Cinderella studied science!’ and ‘The Little Mermaid was on a mission to save the ocean!’ That led to The Smart Princess Series which I wrote. These stories not only show the princesses using their brains and solving challenging problems, they also tell the reader directly that they can do it too!Research shows that young kids’ beliefs about their abilities and potential are influenced by the characters they look up to in books and other media. My goal was to show not only my daughter, but any young girl that looks up to princess characters, that they don’t need a prince or anyone to rescue them. That they are not limited by their environment or life circumstances and that they can truly be anything they want in life through a growth mindset, self-confidence, reliance, and belief in their abilities. This is what The Smart Princess Series was develop for and this is the driving force behind what my nonprofit, The Smart Princess Project, strives to do. The positive feedback we received from parents and kids on the stories and messages showed us that empowering princess stories can really make a difference, especially in the lives of young girls in challenging situations. Have you ever had a book, or part of a book, that helped changed your life? With children, positive reinforcement helps those life changes so we have also developed teaching moment suggestions that go with each book. These teaching materials help in discussing the examples in the stories of growth mindset, self-confidence, resilience, empathy, and problem solving.We offer these children’s books and accompanying teaching moment materials for free to assist organizations that work with kids in challenging situations.Research shows that less than 3% of kids that spent time in foster care will graduate from a 4-year college, with less than half even finishing high school. Kids that have been homeless or grow up in low income areas also face huge challenges completing higher level education and getting above the poverty line. If you are part of an organization that in some way supports young kids in challenging situations, message me today so we can share ideas on how we can assist you to empower those young kids.