Hannah Montana Craze Officially Insane

Hannah Montana mania has hit my house. The kicker? My girls have never actually seen an episode of the show. And further, this is how amazing the marketing is on that show: my girls want everything to be Hannah Montana even though they don’t know what she looks like. And why? Because the girls at school are talking about her.

I figured this out on yesterday. My girls were working on their 20 word stories (send me yours for publication) when my three year old asked, “How do you spell Hannah Montana?” I asked her how she knew who Hannah Montana was. She replied that Katie (my five year old) told her. Katie said that Rasa (friend from school) had told her. I asked if either of them knew what she looked like – they said no. “She lives in a castle, though,” says Amy – at this point, with her millions, she’s likely right.

Both girls proceeded to draw Hannah Montana. She is, for the record, in their minds, brown skinned with blonde hair, black eyes and she enjoys the color purple.

I thought about how I might be able to use this newfound interest for something good, rather than have my house become a repository for Disney marketing. And I found out that the TV show has been translated into a series of books. Those available are:

Keeping Secrets
Face-off
Super Sneak
Truth or Dare
Hold on Tight
Crush-Tastic
Nightmare on Hannah Street
Seeing Green
Face the Music
Don’t Bet on It
Sweet Revenge

You can also get boxed sets:

Best of Both Worlds, 2006 (Keeping Secrets, Face-off, Super Sneak, Truth or Dare)
The Other Side of Me, 2008 (Hold on Tight, Crush-Tastic!, Nightmare on Hannah Street, Seeing Green, Face the Music)

I’m sure they’re available all over the place but I know that Barnes and Noble carries them.

As much as I realize that this is an effort to squeeze a few more dollars out of the franchise, I really love that they’ve published the books. I think it may be just the thing that encourages many tween (and younger) girls to read – much like Gossip Girl encourages many teen girls to read.

What do you think? Is it too much of a good thing – or just the right thing?