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A Little Princess
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A Little Princess
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A Little Princess
Audiobook6 hours

A Little Princess

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Young Sara Crewe grew up in a well-to-do household, but she suddenly finds herself impoverished when her father, Captain Crewe, dies penniless in India. Sara is forced to abandon her life of privilege for a life of bare existence at Miss Minchin's boarding school.

To survive those hard times, she imagines herself to be a princess as she awaits her rescue from a mysterious benefactor.

©2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 23, 2017
ISBN9781520077796
Author

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an English-American author and playwright. She is best known for her incredibly popular novels for children, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.

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Reviews for A Little Princess

Rating: 4.224065659382151 out of 5 stars
4/5

2,622 ratings91 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorite childhood books, about the daughter of a British soldier who was raised in India, but is sent to a British boarding school when her father is sent to war.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love love love this story! Such a beautiful tale of a young girl! Of course, the fatherdaughter relationship made me sob in parts, but I loved it! So beautiful, pretty and innocent! A little slow at times, but still amazing!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lovely classic.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorite childhood books, about the daughter of a British soldier who was raised in India, but is sent to a British boarding school when her father is sent to war.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My mother recommended this to me; I read this when I was eight or nine, and multiple times since. There's something so satisfying about the contrasts of Sara Crewe privileged, and Sara Crewe underprivileged. Also a tribute to the power of imagination and storytelling in overcoming adversity. And, of course, a tribute to kindness.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When I finished the book, I felt like it was incomplete--that there were still plot questions left unanswered.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Such a cute little book of Sara Crewe, whose father, stationed in India, sends her to boarding school in England. When she starts there she has lots of income which satisfies the insecure, jealous matron of the school. However, when things go downhill for Sara's father and his fortune, Sara's daily life takes a landslide downward. However, she is a very mature child and tries to act like she thinks a princess would act, with a fortune or without. And therein lays the story of her reaction to her situation and her encouragement of others. There is also an ongoing search for a mystery child which culminates at the end of the book. I enjoyed this children's book very much, and think it would be a wonderful book to read along with a child and discuss how he/she might react in a similar situation. I highly recommend this book :)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Such a heartwarming little story. Quite different from the movie I watched all the time when I was little. Sara Crewe is an inspiration, and I wish more children were actually as imaginative, selfless, and poised as she is.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the book that epitomizes the magic of reading for me. When I think back to childhood days curled up and reading for hours, very few characters drew me in as completely and utterly as Sara Crewe.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Do I really need to review this? You can tell perfectly well from the title whether it's something you're interested in reading or not.Anyway, there's absolutely no character arc and relatively little in the way of a plot but the novel will draw you along through it by sheer force of charm anyway. You cannot hope to beat Sara Crewe in princess-off. She is simply the best there is.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I watched the Shirley Temple film of this tonight, and desperately needed to reread the real story to get the taste of that out of my mouth. Luckily I remembered Project Gutenberg.So lovely to reread the story I have loved for decades. The lovely thing about Sara is that she is very self-aware. Even before her troubles she wonders if she could still be a nice person if she weren't treated well. She works hard at it, and generally succeeds - but it is work. She is never nasty like ST. And I really like this ending much better than the one in the film.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    That one should never see a film adaptation of a book, without first having read the original, is an idea so unconsciously accepted in my circle of family and friends that it usually admits no debate. But for every rule there are exceptions, and happily for my childhood, Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess was one of them. I had little taste for sentimental fiction as a child (oh, the irony!), and might have remained indifferent to Burnett's work, had I not seen the brilliant Wonderworks television adaptation of the novel. Released in 1987, it is the only decent film version ever made, and prompted me to read the book, followed in quick succession by The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Re-read countless times since, they have given me many hours of pleasure, winning a permanent place among my favorite books...The story of a young girl who comes face to face with the cruel, mercenary side of society, A Little Princess has always struck me as a tale of moral courage, simultaneously conventional and subversive. Sara Crewe is the daughter of privilege, despite her temporary poverty and genuine suffering, but she also exhibits a very democratic sensibility, and her behavior is not dictated by monetary concerns. She is as much a friend to poor Becky before the loss of her fortune, as she is afterward; just as she is with Ermengarde. She is, moreover, somewhat disdainful of adult authority, as exemplified by her relationship with Miss Minchin, whose initial "friendliness" she (rightfully) mistrusts. Successful as a portrait of a particular time and place, Burnett's A Little Princess also has qualities that give it a decidedly modern feeling...Addendum: Having just reread this childhood favorite, for our January discussion over at A Thrilling Term at Goodreads: The Girls' School-Story Group, I was struck by the many plot elements that are common in the genre, from the central conceit of a student whose circumstances are greatly reduced, and must work at the school (think Juliet Carrick, in The School at the Chalet, although Madge Bettany is no Miss Minchin), to the idea of one girl who plays "mother" to the younger ones (think L.T. Meade's The Little School-Mothers: A Story for Girls). My new-found familiarity with the genre definitely increased my appreciation of Burnett's classic, which now seemed, not only to be an immensely satisfying story, in its own right, but an interesting example of its genre.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After having watched the movie for years, I found out it was based on a book! I had never known. It's a nice, cheery story and a quick read. I would certainly read it again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    ara 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)!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorite books when I was young, along with The Secret Garden.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a different sort of story than most of what I read and the age of text makes for some interesting differences in social norms and socially acceptable terminology, but the plot left me satisfied. At least those who were cruel didn't get what they wanted and those who were kind recieved what they deserved and far more. Sarah was an interesting main character despite the over-the-top extravagance that she had bestowed upon herself. I don't know. The book was satisfying and for its time it was quite good, but it seems to have lost something in the past century or so.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I recently bought myself a new copy of A Little Princess. My original copy is at my mother's house, boxed up with a lot of other books in the attic. As I remember it's somewhat dog-chewed. My girlhood dog, Cindy, a black standard poodle, had an unerring feel for which things to chew up for maximum effect. She'd get mad, she'd chew up your favorite stuff and leave it in the entryway. She was a great dog, though. In any event, during the time after my father's diagnosis of cancer and before it became clear that he was going to die very quickly I bought and read this book. I loved that I was able to find such a beautiful edition with the essential Tasha Tudor illustrations (it wouldn't be the same book without them in the same way that Arthur Rackham's illustrations for Wind in the Willows are the only correct ones - for me at least).I know I'm supposed to care that this book is firmly rooted in British imperialism and full of various stereotypes of Indian people and the lower classes, but I just don't. I prefer to consider it within the context of the time it was written (early 20th century) and read it for the joy of the story - I don't think a cleansing is required.I love A Secret Garden (I'm going to need a new copy of it, too), but I always liked A Little Princess more. There's something so appealing about Sara Crewe who loves to read and tell stories and uses her imagination to get her through the terrible time after her father's death when she is turned into a ward of her boarding school and horribly mistreated. She's not saccharine-sweet, either. She gets angry and has harsh words and is afraid and cries, but she embodies the notion that emotions are neutral - it's what you do with them that counts. There is an elegant nobility about her that shines throughout the book. It makes her very real and very admirable.The story is pretty standard Gothic fare - the evil headmistress, the orphaned child turned into a slave and mistreated, the father's friend recovering from illness and searching for the heroine. Burnett's addition of fairy tale imagery and Tasha Tudor's beautiful illustrations elevate the tale into a true classic.This book was a favorite of my childhood and a huge comfort to me in a time of uncertainty. It remains a favorite.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Sara is very rich girl.She is ten years.She enter Miss Minchin's school.She is gave special treatment.But oneday,her father die because of disease.she has no money.her life quite change,but she lives hard.It is moving story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sara Crewe is a very rich girl .She lived in India.One day her father die in India. She has no money.This story made me happy.I thought friend is very important.I thought this book worth reading.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sara Crewe is a very rich little girl lived in India.Her father takes her to Miss Minchin's school in London.but,on her eleventh birthday,her father dies.I love this story in japanese.Sara hadn't been depressed.so whenever i read this story,this story cheers me up.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is first off beautifully written and has a wonderful ending. One thing I liked about it was that even though Sara had a lot of money in the beginning she did not act it, she didn't brag about her money or flounce her beautiful dresses, and to top it off she also gave money to the poor and was nice to all pupils even Becky the scullery maid. And when she lost all her money and had to live in the attic and run long errands in bad weather she didn't complain about it. Overall it is a fabulous book that everyone should read at least once in their lifetime.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What I like best about this novel is that Sara has figured out, from a very young age, that what really matters is what you are inside, not what you have or do. The outside of the story - the "cinderella" story, if you will - is entertaining and somewhat colored by fantasy, but the message is what makes the story stand out. I love that Sara is so kind to those whom everyone else overlooks.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The girl named sara was rich girl at first.But her father died suddenly.And she became poor.She had to wark from morning till night as servant.One day she met a man.He is a very kind.And he is...This story made me happy.This book worth reading!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the absolute perfect little-girl princess read. While today the "princess" idea targeted at tweens is a bratty sorority girl who gets everything she wants, this character is the exact opposite. The book is very well written, charming, and beautiful. Younger readers will love it, but most likely find themselves unable to get through it alone (the book is about 300 pages and written a bit fancily). It's a perfect read-aloud or first "big read" for a young girl.Every little girl should read this book growing up!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As you may expect from any book written for children in the nineteenth century, A Little Princess is a little bit twee and a little bit sentimental - and it has the unlikely kind of fairy-tale ending that would make Dickens himself feel proud. Still, it is well-written and charming in its way, and very likeable.(Incidentally, the reason I picked up this book is that Jacqueline Wilson mentions it in her own novel, Cookie. It's probably not stretching things too far to say that Frances Hodgson Burnett was the Jacqueline Wilson of her day - at least insofar as they both write about girls surviving under difficult circumstances.)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I first read this book when I was seven years old, and I have loved it ever since. Unfortunately, I lost my copy of the book several years ago, and I had never gotten around to buying another one. But when I saw that it was free at the Kindle store, this book became the first one that I downloaded on my new Kindle. :)This story is still one of my very favorites. Sure, the ending is a little too saccharine and unbelievable, but that's still part of its charm to me. Sara is one of the most memorable heroines I've ever read about; she has the fortitude to survive a horrible situation without losing her moral fiber or character. Even though she suffers greatly, she still thinks of others before herself. Heck, I still think of her as something of a role model, and she's only seven years old at the beginning of the book!Even though the language is definitely a bit dated, I still think that this classic is enjoyable for today's readers. Once my niece is old enough to understand the story, I plan on buying her a copy of this book to read!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sara Crew arrives at boarding school rich and pampered. She has more dresses and dolls than any of the other girls combined, yet she is more than willing to share and she shares often. She even makes friends with the scullery maid, Becky. When her father dies suddenly and Sara is left penniless, she is forced to turn over all her lovely things and live in the attic as a scullery maid. The other girls will not even talk to her anymore, and she must now rely on her imagination to see her through the long, cold days and nights. When a sickly stranger moves into the house next door, Sara's fortunes look as if they might improve and she is in for an unexpected surprise, as is everyone else.This was another favorite of mine as a child. I couldn't get enough of the "riches to rags and back again" story. It is all about making the best of one's situation and always having a bright outlook on life, no matter how bleak your situation. I think my favorite scene from the book is when Sara finds her dingy attic room made-over.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I adore this novel and am so very glad I found it. Anyone that has not listened to a librivox recording of some of the mighty classics is missing something very special. I listen while doing mundane chores at home and at work. A Little Princess was a priceless tale that I hope to enjoy for years to come. Like The Secret Garden, this story holds magic, whimsy and important lessons with in it. Frances Hodgson Burnett has quickly and quietly slipped in to hold the title as my Favortie Classic Author.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Such a wonderful children's story about a girl who is orphaned at a boarding school and sinks from the richest girl to a servant. Not letting her sad downfall get her down, Sara Crew makes friends with the other servant girl Becky and all the other girls of the school who sneak up to the attic to hear her fantastical stories of magic in India, her previous and beloved home. When real magic starts to encompass her, Sara learns how great friendship and kindness can be with a little magic and a little hope.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I like the orginal, "Sarah Crewe," better.