Princess Smartypants

Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Putnam & Grosset Group
Copyright: 1986
Genre: Picture/Fiction
Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: Princess Smartypants’ parents said it was time for her to get married but she didn’t want to get married. She had a lot of suitors who came to call on her because she was very rich and very pretty but she just wanted to take care of her “pets” and stay single. So she tells the suitors that if they can complete her tasks she’ll marry the one who can. The tasks include removing slugs from the compost, feed her pets, cross-country ride on her motorbike, rescue her from her tower, chop firewood in the royal forest, train her horrible pony, take her mother shopping, retrieve her magic ring from the goldfish pond. These may sound simple but in Princess Smartypants’ world these are scary, life-threatening tasks. Prince Swashbuckle comes along and completes all the tasks. This upsets Princess Smartypants so she gives him a magic kiss and turns him into a toad and she lives happily ever after with her pets.
Who would you recommend this book to? I would recommend this to any young readers.
Potential problems or conflicts: I thought it was a little feminist.
My reaction: Not my favorite book. It seems a little feminist to me. Very untraditional, new take on a story though.