The Paper Bag Princess

by Robert Munsch

Book Overview

This bestselling modern classic features a princess who rescues a very snooty--and ungrateful--prince. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0920236162
• ISBN13: 9780920236161
• Release Date: May 1980
• Publisher: Annick Press
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 7.6" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

The Paper Bag Princess is one of my favorite children's books!

Love this book for my Granddaughters. Love it so much I kept a copy for myself and end up giving it away and buy another copy for myself. I believe it teaches a great lesson for young ladies at an early age.

Missing pages

This is one of my favorite stories for my class. I had given my copy away and was very excited to get another. It arrived today and in fact is missing pages

Every girl should read it

This book talks about a prince not so charming and a princess that is very intelligent and decides not to marry him. This is something completly different that sends a message that they don`t live happily ever after always, that they can be great without marrying a guy they doesn`t like.

A must read for all our lovely princesses out there!

In a world obsessed with all things Princess this book should be very well received and appreciated by girls everywhere. A terrific story about the feisty, intelligent Princess Elizabeth who treks to save her prince from the nasty dragon only to be received with no appreciation but judgment, The Paper Bag Princess shows girls that they should be respected and appreciated for their inner beauty and strengths including determination, courage, heart and wit and not solely on their outward appearance. This book should be in every girl's library right in the middle of all her fairytale princess books. A little dose of reality is good because a girl needs to know early in life that not all relationships are worth staying in. A woman should give and receive love, respect and appreciation in order for a healthy, satisfying relationship to exist. Remember, as someone once said, "You get what you settle for." Bravo, Munsch! Soar!

Mr. Munsch's wonderful book

This was the first Munsch book that I bought and I quickly went out and bought a whole load more. He's an excellent writer with a wonderful range of stories and a beautifully simple and fluid style of writing that is both accessible to children and able to roll off the tongue of most adults. As you'll see from the other reviews here, this tale is about a young girl who, filled with nothing but courage, charity and a fair bit of brains, goes off to rescue a young prince from a ferocious dragon. After using all of her cunning to defeat the dragon she discovers that the prince is a bit of a monster himself, and so she decides not to marry him after all. Although I agree that the story has a wealth of small lessons for children to learn about boys and girls and expectations and disappointments, I think that one of its strongest points is that the book serves as a wonderful introduction to the fact that not all stories end the way we expect them to (it's still a happy ending, just a different one) and that sometimes a twist can be more satisfying anyway.Highly recommended for children from 3 to 103.

A Must Read for Four Year Old Girls

I am so happy I got this book for my four year old daughter. It's the perfect antidote to those unrealistic Disney stories (i.e., Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty). And don't get me wrong, I think that those Disney stories can be fabulous, but the subliminal messages are somewhat 18th century. The Paper Bag Princess, on the other hand is decidely modern. Its message is: if a guy isn't nice to you, he's not worth it, leave him. Really, is there a more important message about relationships that we ought to be sending to our daughters? There are other wonderful messages in here for girls: you are resourceful, be strong. And, as an added benefit, this is a great and funny book, both of my daughters love it. This would make a great gift to all of the young girls in your life (and I think the age range should start at 2, not 4).

This book is an excellent title for young girls!

This charming story reverses the usual roles: a prince is kidnapped by a dangerous dragon, and the dragon's breath burns up all the clothes in the palace. The princess who loves the prince can only find a paper bag to wear when she goes to rescue her love. Cleverly tricking the dragon, she enters the cave where the prince, still beautifully dressed, is held captive. Is true love rewarded? No! He at once complains she's "a disaster" badly dressed, dirty and all messed up. She replies that he is a fine and handsome prince--but completely useless. "And, in the end, they didn't marry." This book is funny and not at all didactic, quick and easy to read. It's understandable for children from five up, but appeals to adults, too. I've read it to my Guatemalan maid, who was being forced to marry against her will and had just managed to escape the marriage. She loved the book and took it home to read it to her little brother and sister. This is an ideal work to help girls and boys see themelves as equals, to help them realize that marriage isn't the solution to all life's problems, and to understand that boys, just like girls, can be spoiled and foolish. It also suggests that when a boy friend or girl friend is vain and foolish, rather than pining one can look elsewhere for love and understanding. This book should be in every library worldwide!