7-Year-Old Writes Book for Girls of Color Who Want to Be Princesses Just Like Her
Morgan Taylor is the 7-year-old co-author of “Daddy’s Little Princess.” (Photo: Courtesy of Daddyslittleprincess.me)
Like many young girls, Morgan Taylor is her father’s little princess, and the proud dad makes sure to remind her all the time. But one day, Todd Taylor was surprised to learn that his sweet nickname for his 7-year-old was upsetting her instead of lifting her up. And it all had to do with the color of her skin.
“I love it when you call me a princess but I know I am not really a real one,” she told her dad, according to Today Parents. “Real princesses were vanilla and I can’t really be a princess.”
Even Princess Tiana, a black character in The Princess and the Frog, didn’t resonate with little Morgan. “For most of the movie, Princess Tiana’s a frog,” the little girl pointed out.
It was clear to Todd Taylor that Morgan — like many of her peers — wanted to picture herself as a princess. And while some parents are against society’s “princess culture,” Todd wanted to indulge Morgan’s imagination. So he and his daughter set out to learn more about real princesses and queens of color. The North Carolina pair found quite a few stories, including Morgan’s favorite: Princess Elizabeth of Toro, who was a model and the Ugandan ambassador to the United States.
Todd and Morgan then took their research project to the next level: co-authoring a recently published, partially autobiographical book called Daddy’s Little Princess. It tells the story of a little girl named Morgan who doesn’t think she can be a princess, but goes on to meet black princesses and queens that prove her wrong. The book recounts the stories of real-life, dark-skinned royals throughout history.
Morgan Taylor, decked out in her princess attire, proudly shows off the book she wrote with her dad. (Photo: Courtesy of Daddyslittleprincess.me)
“So much of Africa and our culture is patrilineal,” Todd Taylor told Today. His book is an attempt to inspire other young girls of color and inform them that not all princesses are “vanilla” — there are and were actual royals whose faces look more like their own. Taylor told Today that “the response to the book has been overwhelmingly positive.”
But Todd Taylor is raising his daughter to be much more than a princess. According to the website for Daddy’s Little Princess, Morgan is “an avid reader and loves all things artsy. She loves to design outfits for her dolls, draw pictures and paint. She also loves to dance.”
The website bears the hashtag #rockyourcrown, which aligns with Morgan’s strong message to other little girls: “I want you to know that you have a crown, and I want you to rock it.”
Related: The ‘Colored’ Girl Campaign: Meet the Women Behind This Self-Love Movement
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