Title The Paper Bag Princess Series --- Author Robert Munsch Illustrated By Michael Martchenko Publisher Annick Press - 2005 First Printing Annick Press - 1980 Category Children Warnings None Main Characters Princess Elizabeth, the Dragon, Prince Ronald Main Elements Dragons

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.

Ah, reading this again brings back so many memories. I've always been a huge fan of Musch books, they are so silly and fun and yet always make a good point. The Paper Bag Princess is no different, giving us one of the strongest female heroines in children's literature, completely turning the image of a fairy tale princess on it's head. Sure, there are lots of other books now where the Princess befriends a dragon, but its still hard to find one where a princess defeats the dragon, let alone saves the prince.

When I went to get a copy to reread from the library, I found a 25th Anniversary edition which included all kinds of background information on how the book came about. It showed an alternate ending where Elizabeth punches Ronald in the nose, but that got taken out since didn't want to teach kids that violence was ok, even if the prince deserved it. There were original sketches, and information of how the book grew in popularity and got an animated movie, live productions and more.

But best of all was the story, definitely one of my top 5 Munsch stories.