The Paper Bag Princess


The Paper Bag Princess is a children's book written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko. It was first published in 1980 by Annick Press, and launched Munsch's career. The story reverses the princess and dragon stereotype. As a result, it has won critical acclaim from feminists, including an endorsement from the National Organization for Women, which sells the book on its website. Since it was first published in 1980 it has sold more than seven million copies worldwide.

Plot

Princess Elizabeth plans to marry Prince Ronald, who she thinks is perfect. However, a dragon arrives who destroys her castle, kidnaps Ronald, and burns all her clothes, so she must look for something to wear. Her only option is a paper bag. Elizabeth follows the dragon and Ronald as she seeks to rescue her fiancé, challenges the dragon to burn forests with fire and to fly around the world. The dragon completes the tasks but after flying around the world a second time becomes tired and falls asleep. Elizabeth rescues Ronald, who is ungrateful and tells her to return when she looks more like a princess. Elizabeth calls Ronald out for his ungratefulness. She rejects him as worthless: "You look like a real prince, but you are a bum". She then goes dancing off into the sunset to live on her own.

Characters

In some editions, the book's ending has been edited slightly for global audiences with Elizabeth's insult for Ronald, "bum", being changed to "toad". In 2013, Adri wrote an interactive fiction game based on the book.
The Paper Bag Princess 25th Anniversary Edition: The Story Behind the Story, a full-color hardback, reveals the inspiration behind the book. It features an interview and behind-the scenes with the author, and offers a look at the book's impact around the world.
The book was also adapted into a cartoon, as part of the animated series A Bunch of Munsch.
Editions of Munsch personally reading the story has also been uploaded onto platforms such as YouTube.

Footnotes