Sarah Dann

The classic Canadian children's story, with lots of extra material. There are biographies of the author and artist, a plethora of facts about how children's books in general and this one in particular are published and distributed, and much else. But for its pure silliness, my favourite "extra" is Michael Martchenko's drawing of the author proudly wearing a paper bag, with the dragon staring at him in perplexity and Princess Elizabeth (in matching bag) howling with laughter.

And to add my own show more favourite outside-the-book extra, since it's the second generation of Paper Bag Princess read-alouds in my family: I asked my preschool grandson why the dragon carried Prince Ronald off to its cave instead of eating him or burning him up like everybody else. He pondered it seriously and decided "Because he was shiny." I am sure he is right! Shiny, blinged-up Ronald is just what every dragon wants to complete its treasure hoard. show less

I give a copy of this book whenever a friend or family member has a baby. Boy or girl. It's a classic. You look like a prince, Roger, but you are a BUM.

Elizabeth is a beautiful princess who is supposed to marry Prince Ronald. A dragon smashes her castle, burns all of her clothes, and kidnaps prince Ronald. So, Elizabeth sets off to rescue him, wearing a paper bag because all her clothes had been burned up. Elizabeth is clever, outwits the dragon, and finds Prince Ronald, who looks at her paper bag clothing and sooty appearance and says, "Come back when you are dressed like a real princess," to which Elizabeth replies, "You look like a real show more prince, but you are a bum." And the story ends, "They didn't get married after all." show less

Princess Elizabeth outwits a dragon to rescue Prince Ronald who she intends to marry. But when she discovers that Ronald, who looks like a prince, acts like a bum, she decides not to marry him after all.

This silver anniversary edition describes how the story was conceived and the process of publishing the book, the narrative, the illustrations, and the production in a fun way to inspire children’s creative imaginations.