diff --git a/narwhals/_arrow/dataframe.py b/narwhals/_arrow/dataframe.py
index fa5a69950..f409ef735 100644
--- a/narwhals/_arrow/dataframe.py
+++ b/narwhals/_arrow/dataframe.py
@@ -121,7 +121,12 @@ def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> ArrowSeries: ...
     def __getitem__(self, item: slice) -> ArrowDataFrame: ...
 
     def __getitem__(
-        self, item: str | slice | Sequence[int] | tuple[Sequence[int], str | int]
+        self,
+        item: str
+        | slice
+        | Sequence[int]
+        | Sequence[str]
+        | tuple[Sequence[int], str | int],
     ) -> ArrowSeries | ArrowDataFrame:
         if isinstance(item, str):
             from narwhals._arrow.series import ArrowSeries
@@ -191,6 +196,8 @@ def __getitem__(
             )
 
         elif isinstance(item, Sequence) or (is_numpy_array(item) and item.ndim == 1):
+            if isinstance(item, Sequence) and all(isinstance(x, str) for x in item):
+                return self._from_native_frame(self._native_frame.select(item))
             return self._from_native_frame(self._native_frame.take(item))
 
         else:  # pragma: no cover
diff --git a/narwhals/_pandas_like/dataframe.py b/narwhals/_pandas_like/dataframe.py
index 499777833..71a659998 100644
--- a/narwhals/_pandas_like/dataframe.py
+++ b/narwhals/_pandas_like/dataframe.py
@@ -111,13 +111,22 @@ def __getitem__(self, item: tuple[Sequence[int], str | int]) -> PandasLikeSeries
     def __getitem__(self, item: Sequence[int]) -> PandasLikeDataFrame: ...
 
     @overload
-    def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> PandasLikeSeries: ...
+    def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> PandasLikeSeries: ...  # type: ignore[overload-overlap]
+
+    @overload
+    def __getitem__(self, item: Sequence[str]) -> PandasLikeDataFrame: ...
 
     @overload
     def __getitem__(self, item: slice) -> PandasLikeDataFrame: ...
 
     def __getitem__(
-        self, item: str | slice | Sequence[int] | tuple[Sequence[int], str | int]
+        self,
+        item: str
+        | int
+        | slice
+        | Sequence[int]
+        | Sequence[str]
+        | tuple[Sequence[int], str | int],
     ) -> PandasLikeSeries | PandasLikeDataFrame:
         if isinstance(item, str):
             from narwhals._pandas_like.series import PandasLikeSeries
@@ -174,7 +183,7 @@ def __getitem__(
             from narwhals._pandas_like.series import PandasLikeSeries
 
             if isinstance(item[1], str):
-                item = (item[0], self._native_frame.columns.get_loc(item[1]))
+                item = (item[0], self._native_frame.columns.get_loc(item[1]))  # type: ignore[assignment]
                 native_series = self._native_frame.iloc[item]
             elif isinstance(item[1], int):
                 native_series = self._native_frame.iloc[item]
@@ -191,6 +200,8 @@ def __getitem__(
         elif isinstance(item, (slice, Sequence)) or (
             is_numpy_array(item) and item.ndim == 1
         ):
+            if isinstance(item, Sequence) and all(isinstance(x, str) for x in item):
+                return self._from_native_frame(self._native_frame.loc[:, item])
             return self._from_native_frame(self._native_frame.iloc[item])
 
         else:  # pragma: no cover
diff --git a/narwhals/dataframe.py b/narwhals/dataframe.py
index a266b73c7..1b91f0910 100644
--- a/narwhals/dataframe.py
+++ b/narwhals/dataframe.py
@@ -612,7 +612,10 @@ def __getitem__(self, item: tuple[Sequence[int], int]) -> Series: ...  # type: i
     def __getitem__(self, item: Sequence[int]) -> Self: ...
 
     @overload
-    def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> Series: ...
+    def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> Series: ...  # type: ignore[overload-overlap]
+
+    @overload
+    def __getitem__(self, item: Sequence[str]) -> Self: ...
 
     @overload
     def __getitem__(self, item: slice) -> Self: ...
@@ -622,6 +625,7 @@ def __getitem__(
         item: str
         | slice
         | Sequence[int]
+        | Sequence[str]
         | tuple[Sequence[int], str | int]
         | tuple[slice | Sequence[int], Sequence[int] | Sequence[str] | slice],
     ) -> Series | Self:
@@ -644,6 +648,8 @@ def __getitem__(
                   `DataFrame`.
                 - `df[:, ['a', 'c']]` extracts all rows and columns `'a'` and `'c'` and returns a
                   `DataFrame`.
+                - `df[['a', 'c']]` extracts all rows and columns `'a'` and `'c'` and returns a
+                  `DataFrame`.
                 - `df[0: 2, ['a', 'c']]` extracts the first two rows and columns `'a'` and `'c'` and
                     returns a `DataFrame`
                 - `df[:, 0: 2]` extracts all rows from the first two columns and returns a `DataFrame`
diff --git a/narwhals/stable/v1.py b/narwhals/stable/v1.py
index 78cfa5ba1..862ba5d1a 100644
--- a/narwhals/stable/v1.py
+++ b/narwhals/stable/v1.py
@@ -91,9 +91,10 @@ def __getitem__(self, item: tuple[Sequence[int], int]) -> Series: ...  # type: i
 
     @overload
     def __getitem__(self, item: Sequence[int]) -> Self: ...
-
     @overload
-    def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> Series: ...
+    def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> Series: ...  # type: ignore[overload-overlap]
+    @overload
+    def __getitem__(self, item: Sequence[str]) -> Self: ...
 
     @overload
     def __getitem__(self, item: slice) -> Self: ...
diff --git a/tests/frame/slice_test.py b/tests/frame/slice_test.py
index 18b05bf3b..834e88bff 100644
--- a/tests/frame/slice_test.py
+++ b/tests/frame/slice_test.py
@@ -147,6 +147,9 @@ def test_slice_slice_columns(constructor_eager: Any) -> None:
     result = df[:, [0, 2]]
     expected = {"a": [1, 2, 3], "c": [7, 8, 9]}
     compare_dicts(result, expected)
+    result = df[["b", "c"]]
+    expected = {"b": [4, 5, 6], "c": [7, 8, 9]}
+    compare_dicts(result, expected)
 
 
 def test_slice_invalid(constructor_eager: Any) -> None: