I never read A Little Princess as a child. I do remember watching both the 1939 Shirley Temple version as well as the 1995 movie version and being mesmerized. I wanted to be a princess. What little girl doesn’t?
I remember this scene from childhood. Brave and strong, Sara Crewe isn’t afraid to say what she believes. After all, all little girls are princesses. Or should be.
A few years ago, I read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett for the first time. Although it was a nice story, I didn’t love it when I read it. Maybe because I never experienced the magic of the story during childhood, it just didn’t do much for me as an adult reader. I felt the same way when I was reading A Little Princess. It was sweet story, and I think if I was 10 or 11, I would have absolutely loved it.
A Little Princess is a Cinderella story.
Sara Crewe is cherished by her father and given all she has ever desired. She was born in India where her father made his living and brought to London to a boarding school at the age of 7. She learns that her father had made bad investments and lost all of his fortune and sadly dies. Left destitute and abandoned, she moves out of her private suite in the school and to the attic. She becomes the drudge of the school- assisting with lessons, running errands, anything Miss Minchin desires.
Throughout her trials and hardship, Sara remained positive. She lived in a dream world where she was a truly a princess. Her stories were loved by the children of the school and her closest friends still found ways to sneak up to the attic. Even when she was starving, she gave away her food to a little girl who was by far more hungry. Her strength is admirable. She remained positive when any other little girl in the same situation would have felt lost and hopeless. In the end, she meets a kind Indian gentleman who lives next door and discovers that he is her father’s friend. She is rescued from Miss Minchin’s school and lives happily ever after.
It’s a riches-to rags-to riches again story.
In the end, A Little Princess is a classic children’s story and I am sure it will remain so for as long as little girls dream of being princesses. Sara Crewe is delightful heroine and you can’t help but side with her against the mean Miss Minchin or the weak and sad Miss Amelia. I couldn’t help feeling so happy when Sara finally gets her own happy ending.
Do you have a favorite children’s novel? Is there a novel you loved as child that you still love as an adult? Or is there a children’s novel you discovered as an adult that you wish you had read as a child?
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This is one of my favorite children’s books. I reread it regularly, and every time I read it, I cry during the scene where Sara Crewe gives away her buns to the beggar child who is even poorer than she is. To me, more than anything, that scene genuinely demonstrates the goodness that is so deeply engrained in the character of Sara Crew. Sara Crewe acts like a princess when no one is watching. Which, of course, makes her the real thing.
I loved when Sara gave the little beggar girl her buns. It was my favorite scene of the book. Thank you for sharing, Christine!
I loved both A Little Princess and The Secret Garden as a girl. I just recently reread The Secret Garden, and loved it more as an adult. I could appreciate the parallel between the bare, winter garden and Mary’s dour spirit–and the blossoming of both in the spring with tender care and love.
I have to admit that I’ve never read either The Secret Garden nor A Little Princess. I don’t know how I missed so many classics as a child – I must have been too wrapped up in reading and rereading The Little House series! -Sarah
I missed so many classics as a child too. I loved anything by Roald Dahl and the Anne if Green Gables series.
Is this a book that will appeal to the chaps out there or should i stick to King Solomon’s Mines and The Coral Island?
Maybe- it is a nice story and Sara Crewe is really the star. She is honest, kind, and strong. The perfect heroine and role model. If you like reading classics and you don’t mind a children’s story, then you might enjoy it. Some people swear by it, but honestly, I didn’t find it to be anything earth-shattering.
I think there is a copy somewhere in the house, in fact it has The Secret Garden in the same book. I shall get onto reading them some point soon. I do like my children’s stories and so shall get comfy and enjoy.
The Giver!!!! (Such an awesome children’s book!)
Also love: The Cay, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and many more. I actually love children’s and young adult books!
The Giver is an amazing book. Thanks for sharing, Rosi!
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It’s impossible for me to say what my favorite children’s novel is, since I love so many of them. I have a very different taste as adult than I did as a child, though. For instance, I hated being forced to read all those depressing stories where characters or dogs or horses die…why was I never forced to read a happy novel in school? Now, I’m better able to enjoy sad books, though I still think they’re over-rated.
I didn’t read A Secret Garden nor The Little Princess when I was younger…but I was familiar with the stories. I certainly enjoyed them when I read them as an adult!
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