Anti-Princess Series and Anti-Hero Series

Works in the series are picture book biographies of South and Central American artists and leaders.[1] The series specifically seeks to recount stories of figures who changed aspects of society but not through force or domination.[1][2] Books in the series tend to run about 26 pages in length and provide "hyperlink-style" definitions (a feature devised by book designer Martín Azcurra) of challenging terms from the text such as "dictatorship", "surrealism", "tyranny", and "revolution".[1][3] Each work concludes with a brief collection of activities and games encouraging readers to respond to and create art inspired by the book's subject.[4] An anthropomorphized animal or item from the life of the central figure of each work accompanies them and asks questions to tie different elements of the biographies together.[1]

Visually, the books combine illustrations by Pitu Saá with reproductions of photographs and, when applicable, visual works of art by the books' subjects.[2][5] Not all visual artworks are direct reproductions; some are recreated by Saá in a style congruent with that of his other illustrations in the books.[2]

Several crossover works published as the League of Anti-Princesses follow characters from previous Anti-Princess books using a time travel potion to join forces and, for instance, fight together in historical battles.[6]

Fink has written all the works in the series

Saá has illustrated all the works in the series

Nadia Fink, an Argentine writer for the magazine Sudestada, was compelled to begin writing the Anti-Princess Series to counter what she perceived as the unfair representation of women in works for children.[7] Fink took an assignment at Sudestada that allowed her to spend time researching Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra, who would respectively become the subjects of the series's first and second volumes.[7]

Fink's interest was specifically in figures who "dared to break with the molds of their own social context".[8] She said that she desired to create works in direct opposition to Disney Princesses and Barbie dolls, popular characters to which young girls commonly aspire.[4] To Fink, traditional princess narratives "convey that stillness preserves you from difficult situations", so she sought to craft works which subverted the damsel-in-distress narrative and privileged the works of the subjects featured over their romantic lives.[4] The books respond to common tropes in princess stories/fairytales; for instance, the Violeta Parra edition explains that when Parra lacked the fashionable clothes required to perform, no fairy godmother appeared to come to her aid, and instead, her mother sewed her a skirt from a curtain.[4]

Fink described a desire not to "underestimate children" with the series.[8] While the works intentionally mention certain mature elements of their subjects' lives (such as that Kahlo had relationships with men and women besides her husband or that Parra's first husband abandoned her when she would not acquiesce to his desire that she become a housewife), they do not mention other notable elements of their subjects' lives, such as Parra's suicide.[1][4] Fink sought to cover the lives of those she included in the series in a way that reflected the difficulties they faced during their lifetimes.[4] However, upon the publication of the first book in the series in 2015, she deemed the lives of certain figures she was considering for the collection, such as poets Alejandra Pizarnik and Alfonsina Storni, to be "too tragic" for their own books.[4] (She later released a volume about Storni nonetheless.)[9]

The Anti-Hero Series, which Fink clarified is not about antiheroes but instead "anti-superheroes", began with a book about Argentine novelist Julio Cortázar.[3] When asked why she chose not to opt for an Anti-Prince series for concordance with the Anti-Princess Series, Fink stated that she felt that princes did not occupy children's imagination like princesses, whereas "superheroes are places where the masculine stereotype can develop, the one with the strength, the superpower, which is mocked and ignored until everyone discovers that he is a genius who can save the world. These men, anti-heroes, have superpowers, but in Cortazar's case it is the superpower of the word put into play".[3]

The series is published in Spanish by independent Buenos Aires-based children's publisher Chirimbote, which was founded by Fink, Saá, and Azcurra.[4][10] Early works in the series were published in collaboration with Sudestada, although by mid-2016, Chirimbote had become the sole publisher.[4][11] The first book, Frida Kahlo for Girls and Boys (Spanish: Frida Kahlo para chicas y chicos), was released in Argentina in June 2015.[4] The books are suggested for children aged six to 12.[4]

By 2017, the series began receiving Portuguese translations and distribution in Brazil by publisher Sur and English translations by Barbara Megen Alvarado and Jesús Alvarado with publication by Books del Sur in the United States.[2][5] Chirimbote has also released Spanish-language audiobooks of some of the titles, narrated by Mora Seoane.[10]

The Anti-Princess and Anti-Hero Series have received praise for their depictions of their historical subjects, their efforts to weaken established gender roles, and their illustrations. Researchers Juliana Petermann and Desireè Ribas Fumagalli wrote favorably of the series' choice to subvert traditional fairytale structure by featuring real historical figures, especially those "who could have led a princess life" but opted not to.[12] In another article, researchers María Morales and Giulietta Piantoni praised Fink's handling of her subjects' flaws and wrote that portraying them as real people made them relatable to readers.[1] Rosangela Fernandes Eleutério, a researcher in Brazil, said that the Anti-Hero Series covering men who were sensitive and sweet served to productively undermine traditional stereotypes of masculine emotionlessness.[5]

A School Library Journal review described Saá's artwork as featuring "vibrant, bold colors outlined in black" which was "often graphic novel-like" and which "enhances the view of the subjects as strong heroines."[13] Eleutério wrote that Saá's illustrations were captivating and found the works over "playful, easy to read", and delightful to both children and adults.[5]

Morales and Piantoni's otherwise positive review said that the books choosing to overlook some negative elements of their subjects' lives (like suicide) while showing others was antithetical to the collections' goal of treating their young readers as mature and capable of handling difficult topics.[1]

All works are written by Nadia Fink and illustrated by Pitu Saá and originally published in Spanish.

• The series on Chirimbote