The story of the princess Elizabeth who outsmarts a dragon and puts down a prince has stolen the hearts of many. Here, 25 years after the publication of The Paper Bag Princess, is a giddy celebration of the book’s anniversary that also includes the complete original. Readers will find a basic walk-through of the publishing process then and now, plus the inside scoop on the PBP: brief biographies of author and illustrator, how they met, the identity of the “real Elizabeth” and more. It’s fun to learn that in Munsch’s original story, he had the princess punching the prince, but the publisher nixed it in the name of nobility—and that Martchenko’s preliminary last-page sketch showed the princess naked, free of even her paper bag. The book’s success is indeed celebration-worthy, with over three million copies sold in many languages including Arabic, Chinese, Flemish and Dutch (“De prinses in de papieren zak”). It’s a lot of fuss over “that sooty, messy-haired, badly dressed little princess,” but a loving, contagiously enthusiastic tribute nonetheless. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-11)
