My summary of the story as an 8 year old girl:

Well most of the book was the pauper and then he found a prince at the city gates and then he saw so fine clothes on the prince that he wanted to touch him. A guy came up to him and threw him on the ground and said "Don't touch him!". Then the prince said "Leave him alone!". Then he asked the pauper if he wanted to come into his palace, the pauper said nothing, but came into his palace with him. Soon they traded clothes and then the pauper was in fine clothes and the prince was in old clothes. So then soon the prince saw a purple bruise on the pauper so he said "who did that?" and the pauper said "the guy who threw me down" and then the prince went and said "I am going to punish him". He went there in the pauper's clothes and said "I am going to punish you for pushing down my friend." Then the guy said "Fine boy, who are you? Are you the boy I threw down." Then the prince said "No I am not, I am not a pauper, I am the prince." He said "Why are you not in fine such clothes?" "Because we traded clothes for a little bit". Then people started getting mad at him and holding their fists up like they were going to hit him. But then the prince ran away and the pauper's dad found him and thought he was his son and then brought him to his home. He begged, "please let me go, please let me go." Then the pauper, he was in fine robes himself and soon a woman with a dress on and a red necklace, she bowed to the pauper and said "Oh my lord what can I do for you?" He said "Who are you?" and the woman with the dress on said "I am your sister." The pauper said, when he was in fine clothes, he said "please let me go, please, please, I am not a prince, I am a pauper". "I am Tom Canty." And his sister thought he was out of his mind so she sent for the king. The king was sick so he went there and the king said "Boy I am about to die soon, you are going to have to be king soon." Then the pauper said "Please, please let me go to my home." So the king thought he was out of his mind and then soon the king died and the pauper was about to be king soon. Soon the pauper was king now since the other king died.