The Paper Bag Princess 
by Robert Munsch

Munsch, R. (1980). The Paper Bag Princess. Toronto: Annick Press. 

Princess Elizabeth is beautiful, wealthy and all set to marry her prince.  Imagine her devastation when a dragon comes along and destroys her castle, burns her belongings and carries off her prince.  Now Elizabeth, with nothing left to wear but a paper bag, must go against the "helpless princess" stereotype and rely on her own courage and wit to outsmart the dragon and save her beloved prince.  In a pleasantly surprising ending Elizabeth realizes she's better off alone than with "a bum", a lesson that needs to be shared with more young girls who are dreaming for a handsome prince to come along rescue them. 

Evaluation Criteria: Plot

The great thing about the The Paper Bag Princess is that the plot is so unlike almost every story we can recall as children where the princess is in distress and must wait for her prince to come along and save the day.  Here it is the prince in need of rescuing and Princess Elizabeth is left to fend for herself, outsmart the dragon and save the prince.  In the end she discovers that she doesn’t need a prince (or bum) after all.

Visual Element: Color

Unlike traditional fairy tales that most of us recall where the princess is beautiful, has flawless skin, long, soft luxurious hair and is depicted wearing brightly colored dresses, Princess Elizabeth is none of these things.  Of course this is all thanks to the dragon that destroyed her castle and basically everything she owned.  After the dragon attack we see Elizabeth with dirty, soot smudged skin, a dingy tangled mop of hair, and nothing to wear but a dull paper bag which is also covered with dirt.  The dragon doesn’t end his destruction there.  We can see the contrast of scorched, darkened trees against the rest of the colorful green forest and even the dragon’s lair has dark signs of scorching and soot.  The dirtiness and lack of color, while different than traditional tales, is perfect for Elizabeth who is not your ordinary princess.

The Paper Bag Princess Read Aloud