Book of Princesses

by Sally Patrick Johnson (editor)

There is a time to read stories about people like yourself, and a time to read about people who are different. That is when you should read about princesses, for whether they are bullied or cherished, proud or simple, hardworking or spoilt, beautiful or long-nosed, they are always special.In this book you will find every type of princess imaginable; some are nice, some are horrid, some pretty, some plain, and the stories about them have been told by such wonderful writers as Walter de la Mare, Hans Andersen, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, A.A. Milne, and George MacDonald.It is a book for little girls, especially those who like to dream.

Genres: Short Stories, Childrens, Fantasy, Fairy Tales

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 1962

Reviews

[Yasmin]

Oscar Wilde should not be allowed to write fairy tales

[Hallie]

A real favourite when I was little, and a pleasure to read to the girls when they were little too. (Except for "The Birthday of the Infanta" which was too horribly sad.)

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter told me this was her favorite fairy tale collection, which is impressive, because we have many, so I read it to see what was special here. I do see why she loves it. The collection is varied and interesting, and some of the stories are little told elsewhere and new to me, which was fun. The long nosed princess is my favorite of the tales, that the kingdom loves her so much that they would ignore an obvious thing like her nose, and defend her from those that would make her unhappy made for a great story.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the stories were strange but that isn't unexpected. Most of them I'd never heard if before and there were some amazing ones in there! My favorites included The Potted Princess, The Princess and the Vagabone, Many Moons, the Princess and Rabbi Joshua, and The Long-Nosed Princess. The one by Archibald Marshall was pretty good too.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short stories about princesses. I loved this book and checked it out of the library scores of times as a child, so when I found a copy of it online I just had to buy it. It's a fantastic mix of stories from the whimsical to the heart-wrenching (I'm looking at you, Wilde), the simple to the deep.

[Jo Beale]

my copy

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a kid, over and over again, whenever I want to make myself cry.

Love this book.