Princess Smartypants

Rating:
Summary: A spoiled brat makes a lousy heroine.
Review: Babette Cole wrote one terrific book Ð Prince Cinders -- that turns a fairy tale on its head. Princess Smartypants is similar to Prince Cinders, but it isnÕt nearly as good. The idea of a princess who has lots of interests of her own and no desire to sit around waiting for a prince to come along and save her is a good one. But Smartypants is such an annoying character that the whole thing falls apart, I think. In order to discourage her suitors, Smartypants makes up tasks they have to complete before they can claim her hand. The tasks are mean and pointless, and the princess comes across, to me at least, as a spoiled brat. A princess waiting for Prince Charming may be a lousy role model for young girls, but this bratty princess is no improvement. If youÕre looking for an antidote to too many fairy tales, there are lots of better alternatives...

Rating:
Summary: A spoiled brat makes a lousy heroine.
Review: Babette Cole wrote one terrific book Ð Prince Cinders -- that turns a fairy tale on its head. Princess Smartypants is similar to Prince Cinders, but it isnÕt nearly as good. The idea of a princess who has lots of interests of her own and no desire to sit around waiting for a prince to come along and save her is a good one. But Smartypants is such an annoying character that the whole thing falls apart, I think. In order to discourage her suitors, Smartypants makes up tasks they have to complete before they can claim her hand. The tasks are mean and pointless, and the princess comes across, to me at least, as a spoiled brat. A princess waiting for Prince Charming may be a lousy role model for young girls, but this bratty princess is no improvement. If youÕre looking for an antidote to too many fairy tales, there are lots of better alternatives...

Rating:
Summary: Too absolute in its message
Review: The illustrations are cute and the story is too but I don't like the ending. Princess Smarty-Pants is only a child. Of course she isn't ready to get married. But who knows if she may change her mind in 10 years or so? How long exactly is "ever-after"? Or if a prince isn't to her liking, maybe a princess? I realize this is a childrens' book but I don't like the absoluteness of the solution.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, A Fairy Tale with a Positive Message
Review: This is a very funny book (well, it is the first few times you read it). Just love the illustrations which tell so much of the story, especially the chinless wonders who come a-courting.

Princess Smartypants DOES get to live happily ever after in this story, but not in the usual way.

My son loves it. I overheard him telling a friend the other day that "some people don't WANT to get married". That's OK, isn't it?

Rating:
Summary: Who ever said that feminists can¿t be bigots?
Review: Try to imagine a book titled, "Prince Wiseguy," the hero of which thinks too highly of himself to get married to any woman. Rather than succumb to pressure from his parents to do so, he devises all sorts of plans to outwit and humiliate the princesses who want to marry him. If you get the picture, you'd understand why the book - regardless of how amusing it was - would rightly be deemed misogynistic.

If you understand this much, yet think that it is OK for women to behave this way towards men, then by all means read this book, internalize its message, and go through life thinking that half of the people in the world are sub-human. But for goodness sakes, you should be encouraging your children to grow up - not copy your own childish hangups.

In fairness, and as another reader pointed out, the heroine may be a spoilt brat, but I certainly wouldn't expect her to wait in her tower for her suitor. But, if it is independence the author is trying to promote, why not have the princess go and find her own prince and show her parents that she does not need to be rescued from her tower? If, however, as I suspect the author is implying, girls should be taught to do whatever they want and not attach any significance to relating to the opposite sex, well, that's a message, but its not a message that's likely to produce a happy, mature adult.

Granted, the story is very funny and fun to read, so if you must read it - and two of my boys did love it - then make sure that they understand that it is just a silly story.