The path of Fantasy and Adventure

[Karen]

Hey readers!!! I am karen and i am here to discuss books and make recommendations to everyone. I would also like to discuss the book " A Little Princess". If any readers out there want to know more about the book or want to discuss any part of the book, feel free to come and join the group. >.< Welcome

[Heather]

I read this book in junior high and really loved it. I enjoyed the characters. I remember laughing and crying and getting so into the story that, in one particular chapter it was raining and I left school really worried that I had forgotten my umbrella at home only to step outside and be SHOCKED by the sunshine.

[G]

I read it on ebook and it was mesmerizing in any format -

[Anna]

Has anyone read the "sequel" of Little Princess?? I started it..but I couldn't finish it..it lacked...don't laugh at me...the author's magic and warmth.

[Torie]

There's a sequel???

[G]

Is it the Secret Garden?

[Anna]

Nope. And Yes Torie there's a sequel.

[G]

Wishing for Tomorrow: The Sequel to the Little Princess

by Hilary McKay

[Anna]

That's the same author who wrote Saffy's Angel.

[Amy]

I read the Little Princess. It was good but I liked The Secret Garden better. Has anyone read Little Lord Fauntleroy? I've seen the movie but never read the book... I'm curious.

[Kressel]

Little Lord Fauntleroy is a lot like The Little Princess in that the resolution comes about too neatly to be real, but it's still charming.

[Cam]

I love the book, It"s so touching.
does anyone know more about the sequel?
any good info?

[Hannah]

I heard that the sequel wasn't actually written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
I loved A Little Princess, it was written so differently from what I was used too. I tried writing like she wrote, but I just couldn't do it.
It was an amazing book!

[Sara]

I remember distinctly reading this the summer I was 8 years old (and then again when I was around 12). The main character shares my name, and I was absolutely taken with her. The story is magical and so sweet. Certainly not a challenge these days, but definitely a book I'll be reading to my daughter someday.

Oh, and I adored The Secret Garden, too, but I was more partial to this book--but then, I was probably a little biased, being a Sara myself. ;)

[J.M.]

My father read A Little Princess to me at bedtime when I was a child. I loved it, and have re-read it many times since that long-ago year. Sara's dream doll, her indulgent father, the cruel teacher, and the fairy tale ending were all elements that appealed to my little girl soul. But Sara's dignity in adversity and her determination to not let Miss Minchin's cruelty erode her self concept have kept the book among my favorites through adulthood. Plus . . . Frances Hodgson Burnett told the story so well! It's irresistible!

[brooke1994]

I never read the book yet, but I saw the movie and liked it. The movie is a younger kid's movie, but it's pretty good.

[Julie]

I loved A Little Princess as a child. I think it was because we shared a love of imagination. I, too, would create imaginary characters for my sisters and me to escape out of our real lives into exotic worlds. I loved that fact, that although Miss Minchin could control Sara's physical world, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't control her imaginary world. I think that was a lesson that I learned early on in life--No one can control your thoughts unless you give him/her permission.

[Rosie]

This book is FANTASTIC! I loved reading it, it is soooo sweet! She (Sara) makes me feel like a horrible person, because she is sweet to everyone even if everyone is mean to her. She is a great example. The ending was great, also. If you haven't read the book, but you've still seen the movie: just so you know it's not completely the same. You should read the book!

[Rosie]

i remember this book during my childhood days, whether in school, at home or with childhood friends we always talked about the stories of Sara as a princess and how sweet and innocent she is and how she value her friends and how much they mean to her...:)

how i wish younger kids nowadays are like that.. lolz

[Catya (LizBenAt)]

I loved this book when I was a child and I just re-read it, like two days ago :)
I still found it as gripping and charming as when I was a kid. there's some kind of magic in this book...

haven't read the sequel and I don't know if I should :/

I loved The Secret Garden just as much as A Little Princess, but somehow it was harder for me to relate to Little Lord Fautleroy... maybe because he's a boy?

But I have to say, even though I like the story of The Secret Garden very much (perhaps a tiny bit more than the one of A Little Princess), I found the character of Mary less likeable than that of Sara.

I just adored Sara's kind personality right from the start <3

[Mikey]

I share entirely Katjas view
I re-read the book this summer because I actually met a real life Sara - or at least a girl, a little bit older, who reminded me very very much of her.

So I had re-read the book to convince myself I'm not going crazy. :)

I didn't know there's a movie based on A Little Princess - Is it a new movie or an old one?

[Nicole]

My mom read it to me when I was about seven and I absolutely LOVED it! I had a beautiful copy with a pink velvet cover.

[Cam]

i really love the book, i've read it alot of times :)

[Caroline]

I read this when I was a child and although I enjoyed it I preferred The Secret Garden

[Lora]

What a great book. It didn't have a perfectly wrapped up happy ending, but it made sense. And it wasn't the kind of ending that screams, "I refuse to have a happy ending!" It just was what it was, and it had closure.

[Michael]

Of all of Burnett's books, this remains my favorite. It is one of the few stories I carry on my iphone, but I read my mother's copy—that she got as a little girl—whenever I need paper. Little Lord Fauntleroy is a little too goody-goody and I never cared for the way Mary turned into this roll-over "Whatever-you-want-Colin" character after he got into the garden. I suspected that Burnett didn't want Mary to be THAT strong a female character—but that is all Mary is.
There are apparently at least three movie versions of The Little Princess. Only the BBC version sticks to the book ending and closely copies the world of the girls' school.
Burnett's first version of this story, "Sara Crewe," is much shorter, but contains some elements that did not move over to the expanded book. It is also a play.
I believe in Sara because she is not a perfect person, nor naturally good, like Cedric. Rather, she is able to look inside herself and works to be the good person she wants to be. Her ability to face her trials as a "good soldier" is not only a reflection of her father's role in her life, but shows how her courage and her ability to rise above the cruelty she knows in her battle with Miss Minchin, the cook and all the other small, tight-headed people in her world.
Wes Loder

[Debbie]

I read The Little Princess several times as a child. Then one summer I was about 22 and got a job at a girls' camp as a kitchen worker. A friend called me The Little Princess, and that kept me always cheerful in my work.

This book has been in my heart a long time, how despite one's circumstances one can always remain a true and brave princess inside.

I loved the Secret Garden just as much, for its picture of a secret place inside us that needs care to blossom into life.

Little Lord Fauntleroy was better than a movie I'd seen of it. He's not as overly goody goody in the book as in the movie, but his goodness spreads around to all those he gets to know.

[Debbie]

Also, there are some other books by the author that I see online once in awhile that I hardly hear of. I want to try them out some time. Anybody read her other books?

[Michael]

Debbie wrote: "Also, there are some other books by the author that I see online once in awhile that I hardly hear of. I want to try them out some time. Anybody read her other books?"

I have my mother's copy of "A Fair Barbarian." It's a real hoot. An American Girl shows up in a remote English country village. She proceeds to turn the whole village upside down with her American forthrightness and easy view of the world. One of the local guys is put off by her, but then develops a crush on her. But it does not turn out quite as he anticipates. YA readership, I would suggest.
I have another volume of short stories of hers. Very Victorian and religious. Not the Burnett I care for. Its title is "Little Saint Elizabeth and Other Stories." I think most of the stories first appeared in "Saint Nicholas magazine" or other similar publications.

[Debbie]

That's interesting, Michael. I wouldn't like the religious line, either. I'm glad she had this other independent streak in her writing.