The Paper Bag Princess: Robert Munsch

I didn’t discover The Paper Bag Princess until I was a teenager, which is unfortunate because this is a book that I think every little girl ought to own! Princess Elizabeth is very pretty and wears very pretty clothes, and she is engaged to Prince Ronald. She is basically what every princess should be. And then one day, a dragon comes along and burns up her castle and her clothes, and steals her prince. That’s right, we’re in a role reversal; it is the prince who is kidnapped by the dragon! What is a girl to do? Princess Elizabeth makes a dress out of a paper bag and stomps off to face the dragon to get her prince back. What ensues is a fantastic battle between girl and dragon, in which a very smart girl manages to outsmart a dragon and is in a position to rescue her prince. But the story isn’t over yet! There is a delightfully empowering ending that reminds women we don’t need a man to rescue us.

I love this book. The sentence structure is blunt, so don’t expect any prose here. It’s just straight forward fun. This book allows girls to have confidence in themselves and encourages them to use their brains to overcome obstacles. Storyteller Robert Munsch is a prolific children’s author, but this is by far my favorite of his many stories.


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