A Little Princess

Sara Crewe is a child gifted with a remarkable imagination, intelligence and a doting father. When her father dies, her intelligence is useful certainly, but it is her imagination that really pulls her through the tough times. She wonders in the beginning of the book whether she is actually nice or not, because she has never experienced a hardship. I really loved that when hardship came, she struggled to maintain her princess demeanor. She got angry and wanted to respond spitefully to ill treatment, but made the conscious decision to rise above. This makes Sara feel like a real girl, not like some absurd Pollyanna.

I am always happy to find another book lover, and such is Sara Crewe. One of the most trying moments of the book for her in her battle to keep her temper is when her reading is interrupted: "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." Delightful.

There was one element of the story that is a bit...odd...from a modern perspective. That is that the Indian servant, Ram Dass, watches Sara while she is inside and even comes into the room while she is sleeping. His intentions are entirely noble and he is doing good. Still...it's hard not to be at least a wee bit creeped out by that these days.

Although a children's book, this classic loses nothing when read by an older audience. I highly recommend this to anyone who believes in magic! Also, if you haven't seen it, definitely check out the 1995 film version, because it manages to capture the magic of the book and even improve upon the story (in my opinion)!

A beautiful, poignant book full of imagination, heartbreak, and hope. I read and re-read this book so many times as a girl, my cover fell off. I loved the princess to pauper to princess theme, and the author is skilled at making the reader feel a part of the story from beginning to end. Such a lovely book.

Reader reviewed by Hannah O

The book A
Little Princess written by Frances Burnett is about a little girl named,
Sara, who learns what it is like to be very rich, and what it is like to be
very poor. In the book Sara starts out as rich little girl who lived in India.
When she had just turned 10, World War II started and her dad had to take Sara
to an old boarding school in England. A year after she had been sent to the
boarding school, Sara found out that her father had died in war. Then she lost
all of her money and became a maid at the boarding school. In the end Sara
learns what its like to be rich and poor.

 

While reading
this book I realized that Sara is a nice girl with a sweet heart. I think that
the author did a good job of explaining the setting and making it sound very
clear. I think she couldve done a better job of explaining how Sara lost her
money and how her dad died. I recommend this book to girls who like reading
about adventures. I give this book 5 stars.

Reader reviewed by BookBegger

Captain Crewe brings his 7 year old daughter, Sara, to MISS MICHIN, SELECT SEMINARY FOR YOUNG LADIES where Sara will stay for next few years. Miss Michin, the headmistress, gives Sara her own play room, a maid, a pony, carriage and anything she wants. Sara learns more of her mothers language (French) though she knew it her whole life, finds friends and makes more of her wonderful stories. Four years later Captain Crewe dies from Jungle fever in India leaving Sara penniless. Sara stays at the seminary not as a pupil but as a teacher for the younger students. Then an ill Indian gentleman moves into the building next door, this gentleman has been looking for a special little girl for two years not knowing her name but only knowing that he HAS to find her. What girl is he looking for? What will happen to Sara?

This book is wonderful story of a used-to-be-rich, now orphan girl that didnt know how it was to be poor or hungry until her father died. Not only was A Little Princess a beautifully written story that kept my attention the whole day through, but it also made me grateful for doctors, electricity, and heaters that keep you warm through cold snowy days. Frances Hodgson Burnett inspires me to read more of her books such as The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy.

I am sure that everyone will enjoy the wonders of Sara Crewe and her friends. Generations of people enjoyed this book when it was first published in 1905 and I hope that they would agree with me about this book.

This book is a wonderful story for all ages.

Reader reviewed by Nic

Sarah is a big-hearted, imaginative young girl whose father is an army officer. They have a wonderful life together, rich with not just money, but love and fun. When Sarah's father goes off to war, he enrolls her in a boarding school with a bitter headmistress who disapproves of Sarah's imagination and free spirit.


One day, Sarah recieves the terrible news that her father has been killed in action, and Sarah must become a servant at the school since she no longer has her father's money. Although she now lives in a cold attic and does servant's labor, Sarah's spirit and imagination are alive and well.


This is a sweet, beautiful story about the resilience of the human spirit, and how kindness and friendship can take you through anything.

Reader reviewed by Samantha Watt

I read this book when i was little, and still love it!

This is the story of a girl who is rich and has a loving father who is sent to war. She has such a good talent for telling stories too.

But one day the news reaches her that her father is dead or missing and she gets stripped of everything she has.

She then becomes a servant, and for a rich girl to become a servant is kind of harsh and hard.

In the end it is a happy ending, though i got scared when she ran out of the window. But she find her dad in the end, he was the blind guy next door whose memory was lost.

Reader reviewed by Tasmin

My fourth-grade teacher gave me this book for a Christmas present. As with the rest of my class, I soon found that I had been given a book that suited me perfectly. It had a little bit of everything I looked for in a book, and still look for.

The main character in A Little Princess is Sara Crewe, the only daughter of a widower, Captain Ralph Crewe. Sara has a gift for story-telling. She imagines intricate and absorbing tales about magic and imaginary places. When Sara is seven, her father brings her to live at a boarding school while he goes off to make his forune larger, pretty much. Sara is a star pupil, excelling at her studies and being treated as she has all her life, like a little princess, as her father's money pays for many luxaries. When Sara is eleven years old, her father dies, and she's left a destitute orphan. She is allowed to stay at the school as a maid, but most of her belongings are sold to pay the debts Captain Crewe owed to the school, all except her doll and companion Emily and a very few clothes. For years, Sara works to exhaustion for a room in the attic and hardly any food. Despite being practically starving, she still shows the sane generosity to others as she did when she was rich, sharing a bag of buns she bought using a found coin with a little begger girl. It has a really good endng but I don't want to ruin that for anyone so I won't write about it,

I love this book because Sara never gave up, making magic from nothing but her imagination and because she gets a happy ending.I think something about this book will appeal to almost everyone, but especially to girls fourth grade and up. It's also describes London in the late 1800's very well, so you can picture it even if you haven't ever seen modern day London. It gives the book a sense of taking place very far away and yet very close, like a fairy tale.

I still read this book, and I'm almost sixteen. It stays with you for the rest of your life.

Reader reviewed by Jordan

A Little Princess is an interesting book. I like the time setting, and the whole plot of the book. I like when books have sort of a haunting theme to it, like how the girls father died, creating a grim mood, but then returns and saves her from the evil school headmistress. I like how it portrays a lot of things, like slavery and pre- depression era. It gives the chance for a lot of things to occur and a lot of characters.I realize why it is a classic. Plus the movie does it justice also.

Reader reviewed by Blair

Sarah Crewe is a young girl who is quite wealthy and lives in India. She moves to a boarding school while her father is fighting in a war. Once it is suspected that she dies, she is turned into the schools maid and is no longer rich. However, she manages to make friends for life and stay optimistic.

This book was amazing. Inspiring, heartwarming, and emotional, I would recommend this book to anyone.

Reader reviewed by FFlamingo

This novel was one of my childhood favorites. When I picked up again, having nothing else to read...I expected to be rather bored. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I really got into the novel.


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, Sara becomes a pariah in the household, with only a few secretly loyal friends. But through her inner integrity and strength of will, Sara Crewe maintains the deportment, inner nobility and generous spirit of a "real" princess.