The Paper Bag Princess (Munsch for Kids)

by Robert Munsch

Paperback, 1980

Status

Available

Local notes

E Mun

Barcode

2291

Publication

Annick Press (1980), 32 pages

Description

Juvenile Fiction. Picture Book Fiction. HTML: Robert Munsch's beloved bestselling classic shows girls everywhere that a princess makes a perfect hero. Princess Elizabeth is excited to marry dreamy Prince Ronald, but then a dragon attacks the castle, kidnaps her prince, and burns all her clothes. In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth dons a paper bag, finds and outsmarts the dragon, and rescues Ronaldâ??who is less than pleased at her unprincesslike appearance. What's a modern-day princess to do? Read this delightful tale to find out. Robert Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess, a perennial favorite that has sold millions of copies in dozens of languages around the world, continues to enchant and inspire generations of young girls. This fixed-layout ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book, features read-along narration by the author as well as music and sound effects.… (more)

Awards

Horace Mann Upstanders Award (Suggested Book — Children's Books)

Original language

English

Original publication date

1980

Physical description

32 p.; 8 inches

User reviews

LibraryThing member tripleblessings
A classic role reversal, in which the princess Elizabeth outsmarts the dragon and rescues the prince. When the prince Ronald is ungrateful and critical of her appearance, she says "Ronald, you are a bum!" and skips off into the sunset on her own. The kids enjoy it, but moms have been applauding it
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even more, for 25 years. A classic.
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LibraryThing member dutchmarbel
Really nice book for fairly young kids (4-8 or so). It is about a princess who refuses to fill the role of dependant beauty. She goes of to rescue her prince from the dragon, who does not appreciate that she doesn't dress properly during her adventures.
Nice drawings, well written and very funny.
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The role reversal is a welcome message too.
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LibraryThing member littlepiece
Minibooks! Minibooks! Who doesn't love these inexpensive 3x3 pocket-sized picture books? Annikins has added Munsch's classic The Paper Bag Princess to their tiny-books line, and every child I spend time with is happy. Princess Elizabeth shuns traditional notions of passive royal beauty and sets off
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to rescue her fiance from the clutches of a ferocious dragon. Clad only in a paper bag, the princess is "thanked" for her rescue by Ronald's insistence she return when she is properly clothed. Her rejoinder sings from the playground through the bar scene. A wonderful, wonderful book.
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LibraryThing member cjfox73
Feminist with a light and funny tone, kids will crack up at the story that has a very good message of female empowerment as well.
LibraryThing member ezwicky
The princess' happy life is destroyed by a fire-breathing dragon who abducts her fiance. She uses trickery and a good vocabulary to rescue him, defeating although not slaying the dragon, and he turns out to care more about her clothes, so she doesn't marry him. A princess book it is possible to
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love whole-heartedly. About the worst thing you can say about it is that it's ecologically unsound (she burns up 150 forests!)
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LibraryThing member annereid
Again, not much to look at but the story is a beautie.
Every little girl who wants to be a princess should hear this tale. One for the feminists.

Love it.
LibraryThing member faerielibrarian
I am famous for my storytime version of this book!

This is a must for every little girl. Call me, I'll come over and read it.
LibraryThing member t1bclasslibrary
I love this story- Princess Elizabeth has been attacked by a dragon, but still she puts on a paper bag and goes to rescue prince Ronald. She tries to ask the dragon, but has to trick him by wearing him out. Ronald, when she gets to him, complains that she's a mess. She calls him a bum. :}
LibraryThing member crashingwaves38
I loved this book! It had so many great elements in it that I can't even point to which is my favorite. Is it the fact that she's a smart, practical, fearless female who doesn't balk at wearing a paper bag if it's necessary, despite the fact that she's a princess? Is it the fact that she tracks and
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outwits the dragon? Or is it the fact that she realizes that the prince is no prince if he cares that much about how she looks?

I really enjoyed this book, and it definitely caught my daughter's imagination. I think I might look into actually buying this book, as I think it should be part of our personal library.
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LibraryThing member Menagerie
This is one of my daughter's favorite books and I am glad. Emily and her Prince have their engagement interrupted when a dragon destroys their castle and carries off the Prince. Determined to save her man, Emily, who only has a paper bag left to wear, follows the dragon back to his lair. There she
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tricks him into showing off his powers until he is exhausted and falls into a deep sleep. She rescues the prince only to have him complain about her attire and messy hair. As any good woman would do, she drops the prince like the dud he is and skips off into happily ever after on her own. A great lesson for all young girls to learn.
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LibraryThing member Schuman
This story is about a princess who is tries to save the prince from a dragon who had kidnapped him. The dragon ruined all of her clothes so all she has to wear is a paper bag. When she does save the prince he looks down on her for her because of her attire and doesn't appreciate the fact that she
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saved him. I think the lesson in this is great. We can't judge people by what they wear, in this story the girl is actually a very brave princess. Great for discussion, also good for beginner or intermediate readers.
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LibraryThing member dmarie8
This is a wonderful fantasy book for grades K-2. The simple text and illustrations make this an excellent book for beginning and emergent readers. "The Paper Bag Princess," tells the story of Princess Elizabeth who sets out to save Prince Ronald from the dragon who kidnapped him and destroyed the
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kingdom. The dragon also destroyed her beautiful dress, which is why she is stuck wearing a paper bag. Using her wit and persistence, Elizabeth rescues Ronald, but decides she doesn't want marry him since he doesn't even appreciate what she did, and insults her for wearing a paper bag, and looking dirty. Princess Elizabeth is a great role model for young girls, since she isn't the typical damsel in distress princess. She is the one to confront the dragon and save the prince. The princess has such confidence and spunk, girls and boys would enjoy reading about her.
Uses in classroom:
-Interactive read aloud
-Independent reading
-Discussing similarities and differences between Princess Elizabeth and other princesses children have read about
-Making predictions and inferences
-Ask and discuss what students would do if they were Princess Elizabeth
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LibraryThing member stefcia
Is a great book that shows how strong a girl can be.
LibraryThing member conuly
This is great. So, this girl - a princess (well, duh) is about to (eventually) get married off. Unnnnnfortunately, a dragon burns everything and steals him.

So, using the time-honored tradition of "making the dragon boast and brag himself to sleep", our princess rescues the prince... only to find
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out that he only cares about appearances. As she says, he is a "bum". And they don't get married.

What's not to like about this story? It's funny, it's short, and it makes a good point: Looks don't matter, and anybody that ungrateful after you save his life is NOT worth your time.
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LibraryThing member archerje
Elizabeth is a beautiful princess who is set to marry a snooty looking prince named Ronald. However, a dragon comes and burns down their castle and steals Ronald, so their plans are changed. Elizabeth goes out in the only clothes she can find after the fire, a paper bag, and fearlessly approaches
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the dragon. She uses her knowledge of his pride to trick him into wearing himself down to sleep. She asks him to prove to her that he can burn down 50 forests and fly around the world in 10 seconds. He proves each feat to her twice, and by the time he is done, he is so sleepy that he couldn't possibly do her any harm. Elizabeth is free to go rescue Robert, but he frowns upon her ragged looks and tells her to come back when she looks like a real princess. Elizabeth tells him off, skips off into the dusk, and doesn't marry him after all!
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LibraryThing member clapkj01
This is a fun and interesting book about a princess who's clothes and things get distroyed by a dragon. It would be appropriate for ages 4-8. It's a great girl power story.
LibraryThing member eevers
This is a fairy tale story that exhibits a brave, clever girl who saves the prissy prince. She outsmarts the dragon who ruined her kingdom then the prince doesn't want to marry her anymore because she doesn't have nice clothes on and her hair is a mess. Elizabeth (like the name ;) _) decides she
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doesn't want him either!
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LibraryThing member ReneePesheck
I just love this story. Princess Elizabeth's castle and land have been burned down by the dragon and the dragon has run off with the Prince that she is supposed to marry. Elizabeth is left to only wear a paper bag (that is all that is left) and runs off to save Prince Ronald. After outsmarting the
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dragon and saving the prince, Ronald says to Elizabeth that she does not look at all like a Princess. Elizabeth tell Ronald that he does look like a Prince, but in fact - he is a bum. Elizabeth proceeds to leave him there on his own to fend for himself while she marches happily off into the sunset.
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LibraryThing member nmhale
A favorite of mine when I was a little girl, and I still love it to this middle-aged day. The story is of Princess Elizabeth, who lives in a beautiful castle and loves Prince Ronald. Until a dragon comes along and destroys the castle, burns all her fancy clothes, and carries Prince Ronald away.
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Reduced to wearing a paper bag, but undaunted, Elizabeth tracks the dragon down. In the tradition of trickery tales, she outwits the creature ... only to learn that Ronald isn't the prize she thought he was. Smart girl, she casts her old infatuation aside and leaves him, whining among the ruins, to find her own happily ever after.

How fabulous can a short children's story be? Elizabeth is a clever and independent girl, and she proves it through her determination, her wits, and her ingenuity. She doesn't wait for someone to save her, she goes off and does the saving. She pursues what she wants. When all her pretty clothes are destroyed, she doesn't weep or lose it, but dons a paper bag with not a second thought and sets off on her quest. She is sure of who she is, and what she has is secondary to that most important quality. It always makes me giggle that the dragon kidnaps Roland, who really is the damsel in distress in this story. Then Elizabeth outsmarts a dragon! In addition, the drawings are hilarious to match a funny story, so it teaches girls about strong role models without being preachy, but silly instead. All little girls and boys should read this story.
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LibraryThing member ababe92
This is a great book to teach girls when they are young that they do not need a man in their lives to be happy. I would recommend every teacher to read this to their students because it is a fun story to read also.
LibraryThing member Mollyphillips
I absolutely love this book, from the layout to the colors to the story itself. It tells a great story of the princess coming to terms with "saving" herself instead of waiting on some prince to come and save her. Not only is it a great story, but it is hilarious!
LibraryThing member CarlyG
This book is about a princess whose prince is taken captive by a dragon. The princess tries to outsmart the dragon in order to save her prince. When she finally does, however, his true colors are revealed. Munsch uses humor and surprise endings to create a great book. There are also great examples
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of fairy tale elements.
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LibraryThing member dms02
A tale that turns standard princess stories on their head. The princess in this book answers to no man or dragon. She uses her wit and intellect to defeat an evil dragon.
LibraryThing member littlepiece
Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous story of a resourceful princess who doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued, and instead sets off to do the rescuing. Munsch's familiar brand of humor will delight young readers, and the book's positive feminist message has delighted educators and parents around the
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globe. Plus Elizabeth tells off the lousy prince she was engaged to, a courageous move *many* of us could stand to emulate. Oh, yes.
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LibraryThing member nprystay
Winner of the Gold Award , National Parenting Publications Awards and “Our Choice” List, Canadian Children’s Book Centre; as well as being a Silver Birch Express Award nominee Robert Munch's The Paper Bag Princess is still as funny and well like as when it was first released.

This classic
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story follows Princess Elizabeth as she attempts to rescue her fiance (Prince Ronald) after a dragon has stolen him. Written with plenty of humor and fantastically illustrated is a must read for children and adults. Elizabeth is a strong, knows what she wants kind of girl which was rare to see back when the book was initially published. She is a great role model for young children. If you can, I highly recommend finding a recording of Robert Munch reading this story. It makes it even more enjoyable!
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Pages

32

Rating

(656 ratings; 4.3)
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