A Little Princess (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))
Sara Crewe is a student at Miss Minchin’s fancy boarding school. She has the very best of everything. But when her rich father dies, she’s left without a penny. Now Sara lives in the school’s cold attic and works for crusts of bread. With some help from a secret friend and a touch of magic, Sara’s world is about to change in ways she never dreamed. An adaptation of the cla...more
Paperback, 112 pages
Published
December 15th 2010
by Random House Books for Young Readers
(first published 1905)
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Dari Sara Crewe, tokoh dalam buku ini, kita bisa belajar banyak hal. Ada tiga hal yang menurut saya sangat baik untuk diterapkan dalam kehidupan kita, yaitu:
1. Sara selalu menjadi seorang yang baik hati di setiap keadaan. Tak hanya di saat senang tapi saat susah. Ketika seseorang yang kaya secara material memberikan sumbangan pada orang miskin, orang lain akan menghormati dan menghargainya. Bagaimana jika seseorang yang miskin melakukannya? Pasti berlipat-lipat penghormatan dan pengh...more
1. Sara selalu menjadi seorang yang baik hati di setiap keadaan. Tak hanya di saat senang tapi saat susah. Ketika seseorang yang kaya secara material memberikan sumbangan pada orang miskin, orang lain akan menghormati dan menghargainya. Bagaimana jika seseorang yang miskin melakukannya? Pasti berlipat-lipat penghormatan dan pengh...more
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This is one of those dearly sweet, tender novels that make you feel really warm inside. "A Little Princess" however, is not a "comfort" novel. The main protagonist in the novel, Sara Crewe, goes through a great deal of suffering and pain, though she does receive what she rightly deserves by the end of the novel.
Everything about it was perfect- the sweet old-fashioned, lovely writing, the prose, the plot, the engaging quality of the book. The only thing that I have...more
Everything about it was perfect- the sweet old-fashioned, lovely writing, the prose, the plot, the engaging quality of the book. The only thing that I have...more
Downloaded this one in audio form from Librivox as well.
This is one of my all time favourite books. I first read it when I was thirteen years old and a bit of an outcast at my school and it gave me strength to move on. Her way of pretending things was very familiar to me and I got so sucked into the magic of the story.
Hearing it now, I was afraid it would prove childish, as childhood favourites often do. But to my delight it didn't. Sarah was a bit naive at times, which doesn'...more
This is one of my all time favourite books. I first read it when I was thirteen years old and a bit of an outcast at my school and it gave me strength to move on. Her way of pretending things was very familiar to me and I got so sucked into the magic of the story.
Hearing it now, I was afraid it would prove childish, as childhood favourites often do. But to my delight it didn't. Sarah was a bit naive at times, which doesn'...more
Abigail
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Readers with a Taste for Sentimental Girls' Fiction
That one should never see a film adaptation of a book, without first having read the original, is an idea so unconsciously accepted in my circle of family and friends that it usually admits no debate. But for every rule there are exceptions, and happily for my childhood, Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess was one of them. I had little taste for sentimental fiction as a child (oh, the irony!), and might have remained indifferent to Burnett's work, had I not seen the brilliant Wonderworks...more
The story begins with little Sara Crewe traveling from the life she’s always known living in India with her beloved Father, Captain Crewe, to be schooled like all proper British girls in London. Her father is loathe to let her go but knows he must for her own good. Almost immediately upon arrival, Sara sees quite clearly with her wise beyond her years insight that Miss Minchin, the proprietor of the school, is not a fair lady, although she hides it well enough. Just as immediately, Sara get...more
Though I wallowed in Burnett’s A Little Princess as a girl, in re-reading it as an adult and considering the movie adaptations, it is hard not to view it through a postcolonial lens.
The 1995 movie adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess begins with the voice-over of Sara Crewe, the main character, stating, “A very long time ago there lived a beautiful princess in a mystical land known as India . . ..” Against the otherwise blank screen, a small circular image of th...more
The 1995 movie adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess begins with the voice-over of Sara Crewe, the main character, stating, “A very long time ago there lived a beautiful princess in a mystical land known as India . . ..” Against the otherwise blank screen, a small circular image of th...more
My mother thought it completely foolish of me to buy a hardcover book and then finish it in one night (these were the days before Harry Potter and we had enough books in our house, in her opinion). But I loved owning this edition with its gorgeous images and, when I gave it to my younger cousins in Singapore, believing myself ready to part with my childhood attachment to a book I couldn't forget my mother's resented my buying, I did mourn its loss, though I was a teenager by then and studying t...more
*PLEASE NOTE: This review is for Barbara McClintock's abridged/adapted picture book version of A Little Princess - NOT the full text version by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
I can't get enough of Barbara McClintock. I think she is one of the best contemporary children's book illustrators currently working. Nine times out of ten she and I are a perfect match. But, quite frankly, sometimes she horrifies me a little with the liberties that she chooses to take with classic children's lit. ...more
I can't get enough of Barbara McClintock. I think she is one of the best contemporary children's book illustrators currently working. Nine times out of ten she and I are a perfect match. But, quite frankly, sometimes she horrifies me a little with the liberties that she chooses to take with classic children's lit. ...more
"she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time."
I wished Frances Hodgson Burnett stopped explaining about Sara at this point. Because at this point, I like her already. Because at this point, I wish I read this book when I was a child. Because at this point, I start to think that Sara and I have ...more
I wished Frances Hodgson Burnett stopped explaining about Sara at this point. Because at this point, I like her already. Because at this point, I wish I read this book when I was a child. Because at this point, I start to think that Sara and I have ...more
Written by Francess Hodgson Burnett, published by Aladdin Classics, an imprint of Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division. Cover photo by Lady Clemetina Hawarden. Foreward by Nancy Bond, copyright 2001.
Grade level recommendation: 4th and older
Summary: Sara Crewe is a young girl who began her life as a pampered daughter of a rich man. However, when he dies very poor, she is at the mercy of her boarding school mistress, wo treats her very badly and turns Sa...more
Grade level recommendation: 4th and older
Summary: Sara Crewe is a young girl who began her life as a pampered daughter of a rich man. However, when he dies very poor, she is at the mercy of her boarding school mistress, wo treats her very badly and turns Sa...more
Meg J.
rated it
·
review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
all girls - they need to know they're princesses!
Shelves:
2006
I enjoyed this story, but unfortunately I had seen the movie first and so I was disappointed that the book was not quite as encouraging as the movie. Still enjoyed it though! 04/02/2006
Quotes:
"Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temptation to be unreasonable an...more
Quotes:
"Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temptation to be unreasonable an...more
A story that still has the power to enchant me today. A story about both fantasy and strength, both grounded in ugly realism and sustained by flights of fancy. I remember being able to hear the rustle of little girls' skirts, feel Sara's hunger at the sight of her feast, see the shine of the candles out her attic window, join in her humiliation at her new lot in life. Yes, it does indulge in father hero-worship, but I refuse to let a little Freudian fact like that get in the way of how much I l...more
I got this book as a gift for my birthday when I was in 4th or 5th grade. I never read it. I'm not sure why exactly, but I suspect it was the word "princess" in the title. I was never really the princess type. The idea of a prim and proper little girl getting everything she wanted handed to her on a silver platter just didn't make for much of an interesting story to me. I was much more the Little House on the Prairie type. I liked stories of families overcoming hardship, and of girls n...more
This was a wonderful book, beautifully written. It doesn't get such high marks on GR for nothing. It is absolutely wonderful, and you slip right into the world of this little girl - in her good times and her bad. It is an effortless transition for the reader, even though her world is completely different from what most of us have ever experienced. It does take a chapter or two to really get into the story, but once you do - watch out. I was listening to this on my MP3 player at night when I coul...more
Emily
rated it
·
review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
little girls, lovers of fairy tales
Shelves:
childhoodfavorites
My mother gave me her copy of the book when I was eight, and eleven years later, I still adore it. When I was small, I always wanted to know Sara. I always wanted her imagination and her courage. While she wasn't my role model, she was definitely in my top five literary characters that I wanted to be friends with (others being Ginger of Black Beauty, and Wise Child of Wise Child).
I've always admired Frances Hodgson Burnett's ability to build a tactile England, as well as populating i...more
I've always admired Frances Hodgson Burnett's ability to build a tactile England, as well as populating i...more
Like Walt Disney, Burnett is deeply interested in transformation. The Secret Garden, another wonderful book, is a more linear transformation from a sour girl into a loving one by virture of the English countryside and its denizens. But A Little Princess has more going for it. A start in colonial India, the pain of losing the only surviving parent, and the challenge not to transform, but to stay true. But Sarah Crewe is more than a Penelope at her loom. She believes in magic--and really, the kind...more
This is a story about a different kind of princess than one might imagine; a princess that is an orphan - lonely, cold, hungry and abused. Sara Crewe begins life as the beloved, pampered daughter of a rich man. When he dies a pauper, she is thrown on the non-existent mercy of her small-minded, mercenary boarding school mistress. Stripped of all her belongings but for one set of clothes and a doll, Sara becomes a servant of the household. Hated by the schoolmistress for her independent spirit, Sa...more
Melissa
rated it
·
review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Young Girls 7-18 years old
Shelves:
all-time-faves
Absolutely beautiful, and wonderfully heart-felt and imaginative. I love this book because it has the message that no matter who you are, or where you come from, you are who you want to be, no matter what anyone might say to you. Sarah knew she was a princess in her mind, even if she wasn't living the high life, and even if she thought her father was dead. I also loved the firndship Becky and sarah had, because it showed how two very different cultures could come together and be friends, even th...more
I've always loved this movie (the B&W, Shirley Temple version), so reading the book appealed to me. And of course - I loved it, too. It has major differences when compared to the movie, but the first 2/3rds is much the same.
After reading A Little Princess (and other pre-feminism ya lit), I realize this wonderful book (and the others) would never be published today. It's too "goody-goody." Kids today don't find this stuff interesting and to me that's really sad. I wish ...more
After reading A Little Princess (and other pre-feminism ya lit), I realize this wonderful book (and the others) would never be published today. It's too "goody-goody." Kids today don't find this stuff interesting and to me that's really sad. I wish ...more
I don't like being told to get off my duff just because I complete the book I'm reading. This is a book I constantly come back to and visit with it as if it is my best friend, and we are enjoying a conversation over a fine pot of tea.
I first read it in fifth grade, it was a gift from my mother.
I reread it most recently when I realized my ability to read adult material had diminished as a result of reading children's literature with second graders for months. I regained...more
I first read it in fifth grade, it was a gift from my mother.
I reread it most recently when I realized my ability to read adult material had diminished as a result of reading children's literature with second graders for months. I regained...more
who can forget the little Sarah? the sweet, kindhearted child of Mr. Crewe who entertains and lights up the school of Miss Minchin with her vivid imagination and endless flights of fancy...this book, in my opinion, is one of those books that touches the little child in all of us..after all, who among us did not dream of being a "princess" one time or another? it is a delightful read surely to entertain and teach at the same time that even in the face of trials and adversity, goodness s...more
It is an lovely book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. And it's a imotional one.The book is about how rich,wealthy Sara tries to settle and make new friends at the boarding school. and when she learns that she would never see her rich beloved father,all the story turnes upside down.She transform from a princess to a pauper.She would a have no pretty dresses. she lives in the attic, like the poor servant Becky. and her dresses get shorter and shorter everyday, will she find the kindness that she truly ...more
I must have read this book about a million times when I was younger. I think what I liked best about it was the descriptions of the clothes and the people and especially the food. I could read the chapter when the Magic happens over and over again.
That said, I can't stop thinking about something a friend of mine once said about why she preferred The Secret Garden to A Little Princess. Mary Lennox, she said, came from India a peevish unpleasant person, and by the end of the book sh...more
That said, I can't stop thinking about something a friend of mine once said about why she preferred The Secret Garden to A Little Princess. Mary Lennox, she said, came from India a peevish unpleasant person, and by the end of the book sh...more
Things I learned:
I love this book.
Joss Whedon has wonderful taste. (He listed this book as one the five books he would want with him in the event of being stranded on a desert island)
Everyone should be gifted a book this wonderful.
I tend toward the abstract sometimes.
But to be specific. Here is a story like many stories about children in which a child attends a boarding school. In this case the child's name is Sara Crewe, and the boar...more
I love this book.
Joss Whedon has wonderful taste. (He listed this book as one the five books he would want with him in the event of being stranded on a desert island)
Everyone should be gifted a book this wonderful.
I tend toward the abstract sometimes.
But to be specific. Here is a story like many stories about children in which a child attends a boarding school. In this case the child's name is Sara Crewe, and the boar...more
Though it is a tad heavy when it comes to descriptions--just a tad--I found myself thoroughly charmed by the life and adventures of Sara Crewe. Sara, the daughter of a wealthy man, is placed in school--boarding school, I think, where she is cared for rather well. She has everything a girl could want--friends who love to hear her tell stories, a faithful doll named Emily, etc. But when tragedy strikes, little Sara's world changes overnight. During her birthday party, news comes in that her ...more
Reading this book was like having ice cream in the middle of the rain at park and you were soaked to the bone. Afraid to go home for the scolding that you will get from mom but you still have to go home. When you reached home, mom would simply wrapped you with a towel and told you to have a nice hot shower while she prepared the food. No scolding, no punishment, not grounded for sure and you cannot help to feel amazed with your rare luck and was so happy with it. That was what I felt after finis...more
If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.
Dengan baju compang-camping mungkinkah seorang gadis bisa tetap menjadi seorang putri ?
Sara crew, gadis cilik yang dibesarkan oleh Ayahnya yang tampan, terbiasa untuk hidup mewah di India layaknya seorang putri. Dia tidak hanya cerdas tapi juga sangat d...more
Dengan baju compang-camping mungkinkah seorang gadis bisa tetap menjadi seorang putri ?
Sara crew, gadis cilik yang dibesarkan oleh Ayahnya yang tampan, terbiasa untuk hidup mewah di India layaknya seorang putri. Dia tidak hanya cerdas tapi juga sangat d...more
This was my favorite book growing up. I read it again and again, more times than I can remember, but probably at least twenty times. I wanted for myself Sara's absolute conviction, in spite of her material circumstances or the opinions of authority figures or peers, that she was exactly who she believed herself to be.
This book is deeply imprinted upon me, and because of its effect on me, I believe in bibliotherapy, the idea that the right book at the right time can strengthen and hea...more
This book is deeply imprinted upon me, and because of its effect on me, I believe in bibliotherapy, the idea that the right book at the right time can strengthen and hea...more
“A Little Princess,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a beautiful and at times heartbreaking story about a little girl who refuses to let troubling circumstances crush her spirit. This is a true “Cinderella story,” with a wonderful lesson to be told to people of all ages. A pattern in Burnett’s stories is the state of her female protagonists in which a pampered or “princess-like” little girl suddenly becomes a pauper. But unlike Mary in “The Secret Garden,” who transforms from a spoiled, angry chil...more
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The path of Fantasy and Adventure | 16 | 75 | Jan 31, 2012 09:16am | |
| A Thrilling Term ...: A Little Princess (January 2011) | 57 | 45 | Feb 25, 2011 07:58pm |
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Frances Eliza Hodgson was the daughter of ironmonger Edwin Hodgson, who died three years after her birth, and his wife Eliza Boond. She was educated at The Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Gentleman until the age of fifteen, at which point the family ironmongery, then being run by her mother, failed, and the family emigrated to Knoxville, Tennessee. Here Hodgson began to write, in order to sup...more
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“Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”
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“When you will not fly into a passion people know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in--that's stronger. It's a good thing not to answer your enemies.”
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