The Paper Bag Princess, Our Favourite Book!
Written: Mar 26 '02 (Updated Mar 26 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's ALL pros!
Cons: None! Zip! Nada!
The Bottom Line: a wonderful fairy tale that is pro-girl, pro-strength, pro-character, and anti-shallowness.
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| MumMumMum's Full Review: Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko - La princesa... |
This is a departure from my usual style of reviewing children’s books. I was recently invited to visit a Grade One class at which a Guest Reader was going to be reading to the students. I did not want to pass up this opportunity, and I’m sure you will understand why after reading the review.
The tiny little six-year-old girl sat perched up on a stool, surrounded by 25 of her Grade One classmates. She was dressed in a dress covered up by brown kraft paper. Her blonde hair was a big fly-away mess, caught up in her “gold” tiara filled with “rubies” and “diamonds.” She nervously looked at her classmates, all of whom were fidgeting and murmuring, waiting for them to be quiet so she could begin to read. As the room became quieter, she began….
”The Paper Bag Princess,” she began quietly reading. ”Written by Robert Munsch, and illustrated by Michael Martchenko.” She stumbled a little over the name Martchenko, looked up nervously towards her teacher and the adults at the back of the room, hoping for signs of reassurance. Finding the looks of encouragement she had hoped for, she began to read Munsch’s tale of Elizabeth, the Paper Bag Princess.
Elizabeth was a beautiful princess, as all princesses are in fairy tales. She had the fancy clothes, the fancy castle, and a fancy prince named Ronald who she was going to marry. But then a dragon came along, smashed her castle, burnt everything in sight, and took Prince Ronald with him when he left! Elizabeth was not about to let that happen, she wanted Ronald back! So off she went to find the dragon and rescue Ronald, wearing the only thing that wasn’t burnt…..a paper bag. She followed the dragon’s trail of horse’s teeth and burnt forests until she found a cave with a huge knocker on it, and banged on the door.
As the Guest Reader read further into the story her voice became louder. She had become more comfortable with reading in front of this room full of people, in part because she knew and loved this story, and in part because as she read the audience had become completely silent, completely focussed on the story she was reading to them. She looked up, towards the back of the room, and smiled. She had her audience in the palm of her hand, she had chosen the right book to read to them! She read on.
The dragon opened the cave door and said, ”Well, a princess! I love to eat princesses, but I have already eaten a whole castle today. I am a very busy dragon. Come back tomorrow.” Elizabeth, not being your “typical” princess, was not about to accept that sort of condescension from the dragon and banged on the door again. After all, she was a princess on a mission! The dragon popped his head out of the cave again and once again dismissed her, but she shouted, ”Wait!” She asked the dragon if the stories about how fierce and smart he was were true. She asked the dragon if it was true that he could burn ten forests with his breath. The dragon, feeling a need to impress and prove himself, took a deep breath and blew out enough fire that he burnt up fifty forests. Elizabeth, smart little princess that she was, acted deeply impressed. The dragon, wanting to further increase his stature in this young girl’s eyes, blew out even more fire and burnt up one hundred forests. Once again Elizabeth showed how amazed she was by the dragon’s feat, and the dragon tried once again to impress her even further, but this time he ”didn’t even have enough fire left to cook a meat ball.”
The Guest Reader’s classmates burst into laughter at that last line. The Guest Reader was feeling fine, the book was not too difficult for her to read, what she would call a “Just Right” book, and her classmates were enjoying the story. She showed them the illustrations in the book on each page and the children loved the huge green dragon, up next to tiny little Elizabeth, tiny, brave, little Elizabeth. Who seemed to be on her way to somehow outsmarting the dragon.
Elizabeth then asked the dragon if he really could fly around the world in ten seconds. Of course the dragon, feeling it necessary to prove himself again, flew around the world in ten seconds. Elizabeth, oh so impressed, begged him to do it again. This time it took the dragon twenty seconds to fly around the world. When he got back he lay down and went to sleep.
The Guest Reader whispered, “Hey, dragon.” Her classmates, eyes big, leaned forward to hear the story. “Hey, dragon!” shouted the Guest Reader, and her classmates jumped! The Guest Reader beamed!
Elizabeth had outsmarted the dragon, he was fast asleep. She walked over him to the big door. Ronald was standing there waiting for her. He looked at her and said, ”Boy, are you a mess! You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back when you’re dressed like a real princess.”
The Guest Reader stopped now. She looked at her classmates, she looked at her teacher, and she began to smile broadly at the adults at the back of the room who were watching her read the story.
“Ronald,” said Elizabeth, “your clothes are really pretty and your hair is all neat. You look like a real prince, but you are a bum.” They didn’t get married after all.
The Guest Reader then showed her classmates her favourite picture in the book. Elizabeth, happily dancing off into the sunset…..without Ronald! Her classmates erupted into applause. The Guest Reader was deservedly proud of her accomplishments on this day. She then took questions and comments from her classmates.
“What part did you like best?” one child asked. “The part where Elizabeth tells Ronald he’s a bum,” the Guest Reader stated. Another child loved the way Elizabeth had tricked the dragon best. Another child was impressed by how well the Guest Reader had read the book. Another child really liked the illustrations, “The dragon looked big and scary, but funny too!” All the children were pleased by how smart and brave Elizabeth was.
The class was then asked to tell the Guest Reader “One Wish”, and they unanimously agreed, “Read another book just like this one!”
The Paper Bag Princess is a wonderful fairy tale, a fairy tale that is pro-girl, but also pro-strength, pro-character, and anti-shallowness. A tale that teaches that its not what you’re wearing or how pretty your hair is that’s important. A tale that teaches that even if your pretty clothes are burnt up and you’re wearing a paper bag for a dress, you can still be smart, brave, and resourceful. A tale that teaches that there may be a lot of “Ronald’s” in the world, and the best thing to do is to dance off happily into the sunset……without them!
Just as Elizabeth was no “ordinary” princess, the Guest Reader was no “ordinary” Guest Reader. She is my daughter. And she and I have a favourite saying…..”Ronald, you are a bum!”
Recommended:
Yes
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MumMumMum
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Beverley
Location: Canada
Reviews written: 290
Trusted by: 419 members
About Me:
So good to be home, but so very tired!
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