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The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch) Review
The Princess Elizabeth is slated to marry Prince Ronald when a dragon attacks the castle and kidnaps Ronald. In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth finds the dragon, outsmarts him, and rescues Ronald --- who is less than pleased at her un-princess-like appearance. Full color throughout. User Submitted The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch) ReviewsNovember 28, 2008 A must for any girl's library The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch, is a must for any girl's library. On the first page, we are introduced to Elizabeth, a princess who lives in a castle with expensive princess clothes, who is going to marry a prince named Ronald. Then comes the shocker on the next page: "Unfortunately, a dragon smashed her castle, burned all of her clothes with his fiery breath, and carried off Prince Ronald." Princess Elizabeth has to wear a paper bag as she goes off to rescue her prince. For most of the book, she uses her brain to outwit the dragon and rescue Ronald. But instead of thanking his rescuer, he haughtily scolds her for her unkempt appearance and tells her to come back "when you are dressed like a real princess." Elizabeth realizes that he may look like a prince, but he doesn't have the heart of one, and the book concludes with a picture of her skipping off happily into the sunset with the line, "They didn't get married after all." I love Munsch for planting the seed with little girls that they should never settle for a man who isn't good enough for them. Yeah! November 16, 2008 Paper Bag Princess Fabulous and empowering in a not so subtle way...perfect for little girls. Only negative, lacked story development. October 14, 2008 A story to pass down! My mother bought this story for me in 1995. I used it originally for a story telling speech tournament which I won first place for. She then kept the book until I had my own daughter 2 years ago. My daughter LOVES this book, I'm thinking if I should have it laminated. It is her "princess book". She loves this book so much she is going to be a dragon for halloween! (interesting that she chose to be a dragon and not a princess) We rotate this book with about 5 other Robert Munsch books she adores! September 26, 2008 A True Princess Ah, the original anti-princess story that would leave behind it a long legacy of girls inspired by a princess who wears a brown paper bag and defeats a dragon and a snotty prince because, hey, she is female and therefore awesome enough to take care of herself and rescue her brat of a prince. The writing is quick, simple, and utterly charming, perfect companion to our princess. There even manages to be some character development (do we not see our girl simpering over the prince in the first page?) There is a reason this is a classic, folks. August 25, 2008 Smart and brave trumps cuteness Although this fairy tale is a nearly thirty-year-old classic, it is still timely for girls. The book was a birthday present for a great granddaughter named Elizabeth, who loved reading a story about a heroine who shares her name. But the book pleased her even more because Elizabeth the heroine is smart and brave, and learns that sometimes handsome princes are just silly and not worth the trouble. (The illustrations are classic as well, and will appeal to children.) July 23, 2008 Simply one of the best children's books ever written Having just returned from my local bookstore and being bombarded with all thinks pink and frilly in the children's section, I feel compelled to encourage you to buy this book for every girl and boy you know. This is a TRUE princess story, with a a princess who is strong, smart, independent, and self-assured, and who does not let anyone - a prince, society, ANYONE - define her. That's what we should be teaching all of our children! We need more books like this, and we need to read them to often. May 26, 2008 Empowering Book for Girls i first came across this book in college. now, i give it to anyone with a young daughter. a must-have! May 19, 2008 So fun! But ends abruptly Wonderful and ahead of its time. Just wish they'd add a page or two at the end. So, she doesn't marry the Prince in the end. Good choice. But what DOES she do? Good question for further imagining with young readers. April 30, 2008 she doesn't end up with the prince one of the reasons this story is great is because its one of the few books where the story doesn't end with the girl getting a guy. princesses and romance go hand in hand, even when the princess is a tough, adventure-seeking, swash-buckling tomboy, for the most part they end up with a guy. in fact stories with female protagonists that don't end up with a guy could probably be counted on one hand, its a huge part of our cultural perception of women and their happiness. in this one she flips the guy off and walks happily into the sunset by herself. especially at a time where stories like this are competing with barbie and bratz for our young girls, and i guess the boys who think the girls are like that, this is one of the more popular stories where the princess is smart and gutsy and gets things done to her satisfaction. its not even close to the only story like this, but as i say, one of the more popular. it teaches kids that girls aren't delicate pieces of glass and can yell out 'you are a bum!', which is funny and has none of the pretentious ideas about making little girls into little women instead of letting them be little girls. also, it has been commented that the story isn't the most literately complex, to those people i say you obviously haven't heard it live. it doesn't need to be a novel to get the message across. a lot of people i know and i see drill into their kids the need to always be challenging themselves, which is good, but they also don't let them do non-challenging things for fun, which is semi robotic. i mean they're just kids, who cares if its a line a page and that line isn't the most mind blowing sentence in the english language. if it fun, its ok. loosen up a bit. April 6, 2008 Do it yourself Heroine! This is a princess after my own heart! I love all of Robert Munch's books and this is my very favorite. The illustrations are terrific and the princess is a girl who doesn't need to wait around to be rescued, she shows how even a princess can take care of herself. For more The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch) reviews click here.
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