Violet the Pilot

"Exactly. The economics here is a little more sophisticated. The general themes are women in science, which economists write about as well, and women breaking into non-traditional occupations. But there’s another concept that is embedded in some of these content standards and that’s innovation and invention: how innovation helps to improve our standard of living. Yes, the illustrations are just incredible – the detail and the warmth and the humour embedded in them. So this book is about a young girl who is an inventor and an innovator, who designs these contraptions, and that’s the economics part of the book, even though it’s not really that clear in the story. Violet invents different airplanes and helicopters, and she is on her way to an air show where she wants to show off her inventions when she notices that there is a boy-scout troop stranded in the river. So she misses the air show, and instead she rescues this troop. She comes home all disheartened because she missed her air show, but at the end of the book she is celebrated because she is a hero who rescued these people who needed help. It’s hard to escape the power of the media. You may not have Barbie dolls and princess stuff in your house, but whenever the children exit your door they are going to see that at their friends’ houses, they see commercials, it’s just everywhere. And I think sometimes it’s even harder when it’s the other way around. We were at a house this weekend where there was a little two-year-old boy who likes the princess stuff. He wanted to dress up in a princess gown and a tiara, and he was so happy. And the parents let him, thankfully, but I could tell they were a little embarrassed. We all laughed, but the gender roles… why is to so uncomfortable for these parents to see their little boy enjoying wearing a tiara and a princess dress?"