The Paper Bag Princess

This book cracks me up! What a smart little girl Elizabeth is in the story of The Paper Bag Princess, written by the infamous Robert Munsch. The story tells a take about this young Princess Elizabeth, who loses her prince by a fire-breathing dragon. Cleverly, Elizabeth goes to visit the dragon and she has him show her all of his tricks, like blowing away 500 forests with one breath, and flying around the world in a very short amount of time. I won't tell anymore of the story because I don't want to give it away, but the ending...is quite hilarious. :)

I really like the sense of making- do, and the bravery that the character of Elizabeth shows.Michael Martchenco uses pencil and color to portray the brave Paper Bag Princess and all of her adventures along the way, and the drawings were very fun! We always hear about princesses who can't get dirty or who continues to be the damsel in distress, and in this story the roles are reversed. It would be a great book for character education or teaching a lesson of bravery, and standing up for yourself. For a pre-lesson, I would have the students think of a time that they were truly afraid of something, and to write it down. After the lesson, the students could pass their fears around, allowing different children to solve the problem in a brave, and courageous way (as long as it was safe), writing a small creative story for ways that their peers could solve their problems. Way cute book!