Quality Rating: 4 of 5
Overview:
"The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch tells the story of a feisty and fearless princess, Elizabeth, who sets out on a quest to rescue her future husband, Prince Ronald, from a dragon who has captured him. The story— beloved for its silly and fantastical storyline— holds value not only for its potential to entertain, but also for its child-friendly exploration of issues pertaining to class and gender. Moreover, the story teaches the importance of not being fooled by flattery.
Lessons in the Text:
1. Feminism!
Elizabeth's dauntless courage and wit steel her to confront the most destructive, dangerous villain: the dragon. Munsch reverses the traditional, sexist tale of the prince rescuing the princess by having Elizabeth serve as the hero for helpless Prince Ronald. And do Elizabeth and Ronald live happily ever after? No! Elizabeth realizes she is too good for Ronald, and the story ends not with a wedding, but with a bright image of Elizabeth skipping off into the sunset, blissfully by herself.
2. Value isn't pocket deep.
Munsch reveals to readers that one's worth isn't determined by how much money he or she has. Prince Ronald only expresses interest in Elizabeth when she is living "in a castle" and is wearing "expensive princess clothes" (Munsch 2).
When the dragon burns down her sparkly home and fine dresses, Elizabeth is unfazed. She cares more about rescuing Ronald than she does about combing her ash-ridden hair or recovering something fancy to wear. Ronald feels differently. When Elizabeth shows up to save after having defeated the dragon, he offers not a speck of gratitude. Instead, he looks at her raggedy appearance and chides her, saying, "Elizabeth you are a mess!... Come back when you are dressed like a real princess" (Munsch 22). Elizabeth promptly offers a sharp comeback, telling him that just because Ronald "look[s] like a real prince" doesn't mean he isn't actually "a toad" (Munsch 24). Here, the story reveals that a regal appearance does not equate to virtue. Elizabeth, garbed in rags, emerges a victorious protagonist due to her cleverness and courage. Meanwhile, Ronald, still as wealthy and powerful and well-dressed as can be, is deemed a repulsive "toad" due to his callousness and shallowness.
3. Don't Be Fooled by Flattery
Elizabeth's defeat of the dragon teaches the importance of seeing through shallow praise. Elizabeth tricks the dragon by feigning admiration of his great physical prowess. The dragon, blinded by Elizabeth's ego-boosting charade, attempts to further show off his speed and strength by burning down dozens of forests and flying in circles around the world. He so exhausts himself in these self-serving efforts that he collapses in sleep, allowing Elizabeth to sneak past him and rescue Ronald.
Controversies:
It's hard for me to believe that anyone could raise concerns about such a lighthearted and fun, yet meaningful, book but apparently concerns have been raised by some parents and administrators. In fact, this book has been challenged and even banned by some schools. Below are two of the concerns that have been raised:
1) "It is too violent!"
Some raise concern over the "violent" descriptions of the dragon burning down castles and forests, and leaving behind a trail of "horses' bones" (Munsch 26).
My personal take on this is that there are not only FAR scarier children's books and that children will more likely be scarred by hearing what their parents listen to on the news, or what their older siblings watch on youtube, or by the climax of a Disney or Pixar movie.
2) "It is anti-family"
Even Munsch's publisher encouraged him to change the ending of the story because, apparently, girls shouldn't have the right to reject a potential marriage— even if the guy is self-centered, ungrateful, shallow, and flat out rude.
My thoughts on this are, perhaps, obvious. I welcome readers to share their own thoughts on the subject.
Other Fun Facts About the Book:
- It is available as a read aloud on Youtube.
- It was inspired by Munsch's wife, who recognized gender stereotyping in fairytales, and one day asked, "how come you always have the prince save the princess? Why can’t the princess save the prince?"
- Award-winning Michael Martchenko is the illustrator. Below are a few of my favorite illustrations!
Supplementary Readings:
... by Robert Munsch:
1. "Stephanie's Ponytail"
2. "Smelly Socks"
3. "Angela's Airplane"
... for more progressive fairytales:
1. "Tam Lin" by Jane Yolen
2. "Sleeping Bobby" by Mary Pope Osborne
3. "Brave Margaret: an Irish Adventure" by San Souci
Maddie Macionis ENG 302 03
I vaguely remember this book from when I was younger , and I loved it then and I love it now. This story shows little girls that they do not need to "girly" and act according to gender roles. To a young girl they might not see how deep of a topic this is, but it might create a better picture of who and what women and princesses can do with out help from a man. This story twists the normal sexist fairy tale that prince charming always saves the day. Teaching young girls to reject this idea and be themselves unapologetically is important to teach through literacy, especially when it is compared to the…
I love this idea that young girls can read books about girls their age and see that they can choose their own path in life and is not predetermined by society. I recently did a project on this topic and it's so cool to see that there are people out there who think the same way that I do! Stereotypes of girls or gender, in general, should be cut out of society so that people are free to make their own decisions in life. I'm glad Professor Bloem recommended checking your site out! I will definitely read this book out loud to my students in the future!
Cynthia Wrzesinski
I was interested in reading this blog post because my professor, Professor Bloem and GVSU, mentioned that she really enjoyed this book. After reading this post, I can see why! I absolutely love the storyline this book has and how it challenges stereotypes while still teaching a lesson. I thin this would be a perfect book to have in a classroom and to present to students as not many books play out like this one. I am not surprised that some people may not agree with this book but I agree that students are much more likely to hear worse things at home or on the internet. These are the types of books I look forward to showing my student…
Anisa,
This book is a real eye opener to see how stereotypical our society is. I think about how books are written and how movies are scripted. Its always the guy saves the girl, the hero is always just an average guy (Spiderman, or really any Marvel superhero), and the girl is always do dependent on a guy or waits her whole life finding her true love because she can't imagine life without them. When we read and watch these movies we never really question that as normal. But yet we know that isn't reality. I think this needs to be flipped. I think stories like this one should be consider the "normal." It is sad that after reading this…
@pankowsc
Thank you for commenting! I agree; Disney movies are notorious for their gender stereotyping. We have Sleeping Beauty, where the female "protagonist" literally naps the whole movie, while waiting for the brave prince to rescue her with his romance. In Cinderella, both the protagonist and antagonist female leads devote the entirety of their conversations to either housework or men. Have you heard of the Bechdel Test? I think it is a telling standard by which we can evaluate both books and movies for their portrayals of women. I wonder if the Cinderella movie would pass the Bechdel Test... What do you think? https://bechdeltest.com/