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La princesa más allá de las montañas (Egalitè)
The princess is locked in the Dragon’s castle. Brave knights cross mountains to save her but what happens when the princess doesn’t want to be saved?
When the king decides to reward anyone who can rescue his daughter from the clutches of the dragon, brave knights come from far and wide to try their luck. But when they get there, the princess says she doesn’t want to be saved and, in no uncertain terms, sends them packing! She’s finally having fun and is ready for adventure! Will any of the knights want to join her?
Winner of the 9th edition of the International Narrating Equality Award, which promotes stories that counter gender stereotypes.
When the king decides to reward anyone who can rescue his daughter from the clutches of the dragon, brave knights come from far and wide to try their luck. But when they get there, the princess says she doesn’t want to be saved and, in no uncertain terms, sends them packing! She’s finally having fun and is ready for adventure! Will any of the knights want to join her?
Winner of the 9th edition of the International Narrating Equality Award, which promotes stories that counter gender stereotypes.
- GenresPicture Books
40 pages, Hardcover
Published May 12, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 20, 2026
This is an instant classic for any young girl. A wonderful book about a princess that doesn't need saving! This book is also gorgeous.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In a Nutshell: A picture book about a princess who doesn’t want to be rescued. Great concept, good execution, cute illustrations. A decent story that upturns gender stereotypes but has some problematic elements as well. Recommended to be read with discussion.
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Plot Preview:
The cover first caught my attention, and the blurb ensured that I would definitely read this book. It’s always nice to see stories where princesses don’t want to be or need to be rescued. Plus, this book is the winner of the ninth edition of the International Children’s Literature Award Narrating Equality which recognises stories that counter gender stereotypes. Quite enticing as a package! The result though was slightly mixed.
This book smashes gender-related clichés on multiple levels. Not only is the princess unlike most princesses we see in fairytales, but the identity of the knights in the story also contains a surprise element.
The princess’s frustration with palace life comes out quite strongly, as does her fondness for karate kicks. While the kicks are funny to see, they left me with confused feelings. I don’t think the unwarranted physical violence is justifiable simply because it is written comically.
The dragon on the cover barely has any role to play in the story. On most pages, all it is doing is sitting by the princess while she works on her pet project. As someone who loves dragon stories, I found this a teeny bit disappointing.
I wish the story clarified how the princess ended up with the dragon. The proclamation made by the king at the start doesn’t shed light on this. Did she go of her own volition? Or did she become friends with the dragon after it snatched her from the palace? And if it did indeed kidnap her, did it do so on her instruction? I had a few other queries as well, but this was the most confusing one.
The ending is somewhat self-contradictory. The princess goes off on her long-awaited adventure, and on the way, comes across some more princesses who didn’t want saving and takes them along with her. So technically, she did save them from the situation they were caught in, right? 🤔
There are 4-6 lines of text on each page. The writing is full of actions and emotions, making this an excellent option for read-alouds. A certain comical situation is also repeated multiple times, which can create great anticipatory value while reading together with kids.
The illustrations are quite cute. The colour palette is muted yet vivid. I loved the dragon with its dozy eyes and the princess with her shaggy hair and comfy pants.
Overall, while I love the idea behind the book, the execution could have gone better for me. It handles the shattering of sexist stereotypes well, but in the process, it includes some questionable behaviour and contradictory situations. Still, nothing in the book is so problematic that it can't be sorted out with a genuine open conversation.
Recommended to parents looking for more gender-respectful picture books. Better if this book is read together with plenty of mutual discussion.
3.25 stars.
My thanks to Publisher Spotlight and NubeOcho for providing the DRC of “The Princess Away Beyond the Mountains” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
If you would like to try another picture book having a similar theme but slightly better executed, check out this indie option: Once Upon and Ever After - Caroline L. Thornton. This is available on KU.
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I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
When the princess is in the dragon’s lair, the king calls all the knights in the land and makes a grand declaration: anyone who saves the princess will be rewarded with all the treasures of the kingdom. Several knights try their luck. But when they reach the dragon’s castle, the princess makes it clear that she doesn’t want to be rescued. Now what?
The cover first caught my attention, and the blurb ensured that I would definitely read this book. It’s always nice to see stories where princesses don’t want to be or need to be rescued. Plus, this book is the winner of the ninth edition of the International Children’s Literature Award Narrating Equality which recognises stories that counter gender stereotypes. Quite enticing as a package! The result though was slightly mixed.
This book smashes gender-related clichés on multiple levels. Not only is the princess unlike most princesses we see in fairytales, but the identity of the knights in the story also contains a surprise element.
The princess’s frustration with palace life comes out quite strongly, as does her fondness for karate kicks. While the kicks are funny to see, they left me with confused feelings. I don’t think the unwarranted physical violence is justifiable simply because it is written comically.
The dragon on the cover barely has any role to play in the story. On most pages, all it is doing is sitting by the princess while she works on her pet project. As someone who loves dragon stories, I found this a teeny bit disappointing.
I wish the story clarified how the princess ended up with the dragon. The proclamation made by the king at the start doesn’t shed light on this. Did she go of her own volition? Or did she become friends with the dragon after it snatched her from the palace? And if it did indeed kidnap her, did it do so on her instruction? I had a few other queries as well, but this was the most confusing one.
The ending is somewhat self-contradictory. The princess goes off on her long-awaited adventure, and on the way, comes across some more princesses who didn’t want saving and takes them along with her. So technically, she did save them from the situation they were caught in, right? 🤔
There are 4-6 lines of text on each page. The writing is full of actions and emotions, making this an excellent option for read-alouds. A certain comical situation is also repeated multiple times, which can create great anticipatory value while reading together with kids.
The illustrations are quite cute. The colour palette is muted yet vivid. I loved the dragon with its dozy eyes and the princess with her shaggy hair and comfy pants.
Overall, while I love the idea behind the book, the execution could have gone better for me. It handles the shattering of sexist stereotypes well, but in the process, it includes some questionable behaviour and contradictory situations. Still, nothing in the book is so problematic that it can't be sorted out with a genuine open conversation.
Recommended to parents looking for more gender-respectful picture books. Better if this book is read together with plenty of mutual discussion.
3.25 stars.
My thanks to Publisher Spotlight and NubeOcho for providing the DRC of “The Princess Away Beyond the Mountains” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
If you would like to try another picture book having a similar theme but slightly better executed, check out this indie option: Once Upon and Ever After - Caroline L. Thornton. This is available on KU.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you so much to NubeOcho and Netgalley for the advance review copy! As always all opinions shared here are 100% my own!
'The Princess Away Beyond the Mountains' is a cute storybook, perfect for ages 3 - 6, that pushes back against harmful gender stereotypes in a fun and cute way.
The king announces that any knight that rescues the princess from the dragon will receive half the kingdom's riches. But what if the princess didn't want to leave the dragon? What if she didn't want to be saved?
One by one the knights try to save her and when they don't take a no for an answer, she karate chops them and sends them away. Until someone finally gets it.
The language is simple but melodic and fun. The illustrations are gorgeous. The story itself encourages the children, especially girls, to be independent and stand for what they want.
The only thing that I suspect, depending on your child, you might want to discuss. I wonder if some children might internalize it as 'do what you want and not what your parent says' which is not the point at all. So, I encourage the parent to have this as a conversation with the young reader.
All in all, what a lovely read and I am glad that it got translated from Italian!
You can also find me on: Instagram (MoonlightCocoa) and Instagram (MoonlightCupOfStories)
'The Princess Away Beyond the Mountains' is a cute storybook, perfect for ages 3 - 6, that pushes back against harmful gender stereotypes in a fun and cute way.
The king announces that any knight that rescues the princess from the dragon will receive half the kingdom's riches. But what if the princess didn't want to leave the dragon? What if she didn't want to be saved?
One by one the knights try to save her and when they don't take a no for an answer, she karate chops them and sends them away. Until someone finally gets it.
The language is simple but melodic and fun. The illustrations are gorgeous. The story itself encourages the children, especially girls, to be independent and stand for what they want.
The only thing that I suspect, depending on your child, you might want to discuss. I wonder if some children might internalize it as 'do what you want and not what your parent says' which is not the point at all. So, I encourage the parent to have this as a conversation with the young reader.
All in all, what a lovely read and I am glad that it got translated from Italian!
You can also find me on: Instagram (MoonlightCocoa) and Instagram (MoonlightCupOfStories)
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Anyone in search of a feminist spin on the classic knight rescuing the princess fairy tale trope will love this one. Certainly, we need more books such as this one to challenge the dominant narrative that still exists. Not all princesses are in need of saving, after all, and plenty of them are capable of rescuing themselves. In this particular version, several stalwart knights, including the Blue Knight, the Yellow Knight, and the Red Knight, heed the king's call for volunteers to bring the princess home. But as the text and lively artwork show, the princess is in no danger from the dragon and is having the time of her life. She sends the rescuers packing. When yet another knight arrives, the Green Knight this time, that knight--a girl--is impressed with the flying machine the princess has made, and off they head into the sky with help from the dragon, who looks absolutely exhausted by all that the princess has put it through. I absolutely love these lines near the end of the book as they travel--"they came upon more princesses who didn't want to be saved and who also wanted to set off in search of adventure" (unpaged). The strong message of saving oneself and finding one's own adventure resonates through every line of this picture book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a perfect companion book to the Paperbag Princess. While the two don’t go together, the art form and the message in both are very similar, and I think they should go together. In this book, a princess is in a castle with a dragon and the king sends the knights to go rescue her. But the princess doesn’t want to be rescued. The princess doesn’t want to wear dresses or be told what to do, because she will not be allowed to do anything fun. She wants to swim and go on flying machines. The green Knight is the special night because the green Knight realizes that the princess doesn’t need saving. The green knight a girl who says “hey can I go with you? I don’t want to be saved either.” A fantastic story for anyone girls and boys alike.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Princess Away Beyond the Mountains is such a sweet book about princesses, dragons, and finding friends in such a busy world with demands and expectations! when one special yet independent princess runs off to a dragon's castle, a series of knights arrive to defend and rescue her, yet she insists that each leave her alone. Young readers will gain a wonderful opportunity to explore a realm of sophisticated imagination as they learn to read this book and, in the process, learn to earn and value friendships and adventure!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks so much to the publisher and author for the ARC Copy of The Princess Away Beyond the Mountains.
This book is a lovely read that my 3 year old absolutely loved, she laughed so hard at the Karate Chops! (I mean I do excellent voices…)
I can’t wait to see this book in print with the beautiful illustrations, I’m sure that adds to its great experience!
This book is a lovely read that my 3 year old absolutely loved, she laughed so hard at the Karate Chops! (I mean I do excellent voices…)
I can’t wait to see this book in print with the beautiful illustrations, I’m sure that adds to its great experience!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
As a fantasy reader and a girl mom, this story is great!!! A great story about independence, it’s filled with humor, and there’s a dragon! It’s fun to read with the karate chop! The ending was as cute as can be. The illustrations were fantastic! My girls loved it and I’ll be picking it up at the book store for my class. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is a treasure! It shows the danger of making assumptions, the importance of standing up for yourself, and the bonds of friendship.
The wonderful story and the superb illustrations make this a great book for anyone who wants a picture book about a princess who doesn't need saving.
Four and a half stars.
Received via NetGalley.
The wonderful story and the superb illustrations make this a great book for anyone who wants a picture book about a princess who doesn't need saving.
Four and a half stars.
Received via NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Princess in this story isn’t your typical princess. She doesn’t want to be rescued. She loves her life and the dragon. She has too many restrictions on her at the palace. This story made laugh out loud so many times. The illustrations are great with plenty of humor, too. Highly recommend.
I was blessed with an ARC. Thank you NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.
I was blessed with an ARC. Thank you NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.
Review of advance copy
Titolo italiano: "La principessa oltre le montagne"
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The natural successor to the classic The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. In The Princess Away Beyond the Mountains our princess is in the dragon's clutches and the King believes she needs rescuing, only she doesn't want to be saved. Quick story with nice repetition and a fun ending!
*Review of a much appreciated advance copy received from Netgalley*
*Review of a much appreciated advance copy received from Netgalley*
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews