A Different Kind of Princess -- National Princess Week Resources and Giveaway!!

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

A princess needs to be strong and brave among many other traits. Even the storybook princesses, however today I am going to share some atypical princesses that emphasize being strong, brave, intelligent and more. The kind of princess that makes a good role model for our children. The first princess is the Hamster Princess or Princess Harriet. I have shared with you the first three (book 1, 2, and 3) books of this series and the first book is one of our prizes to get you started on this amazing series by Ursula Vernon. This series plays off the classic fairy tales with its main character being a hamster who is a princess who likes to fight evil. The first book is a play on Sleeping Beauty; the second Twelve Dancing Princesses; and the third Rapunzel. 

The fourth book is a play on Jack and the Beanstalk. It is Hamster Princess: Giant Trouble and comes out on May 9, 2017. 

Now in this series there are references to past books, so I suggest reading them in order. Hazel LOVES Princess Harriet and her buddy, Wilbur. Princess Harriet was cursed like Sleeping Beauty as a baby so she couldn't die. As a result she became daring and strong. She likes to fight the various monsters and evil in the world. Even though she is no longer invincible, she still likes the adventure and is not all that princessy. In this book Harriet's battle quail, Mumfrey eats one of the magic beans a mysterious chipmunk tries to sell her. Well he eventually passes the bean and it grows into a huge beanstalk. Harriet does not want to leave the beanstalk in the way of others and then she hears singing from the top. She has to investigate and save the person singing. She finds a giant's house and a magical harpster (half hamster and half harp) chained to the wall. There is also a rather large goose. Trying to help the imprisoned harpster she gets caught by the giant. The adventure is about freeing the friends and making sure the giant does not hurt anyone. There is magic and Wilbur makes an appearance and actually does some of the saving. (Normally he tells Harriet to stop chasing the trouble and evil.) It is a wonderful tale that shares a fun version of the giant and beanstalk story with a strong and fearless role model. 

Our next book is a story Hazel and I discovered a long time ago. We love it. It is The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko. What is a princess to do when a dragon smashes her castle, burns her clothes and takes off with her betrothed Prince Ronald? Well Princess Elizabeth makes a dress out of a paper bag because it is all she can find and goes after the dragon to get Prince Ronald back. Princess Elizabeth uses her intelligence to get the dragon to sleep and goes to save Prince Ronald, but Prince Ronald is disgusted by how Princess Elizabeth looks with burnt and messy hair and a paper bag dress. He says to come back when she is dressed like a proper princess, so Princess Elizabeth leaves him there and they do not get married. Talk about a strong message about being valued for who you are instead of what you look like. This book is great!! And it is one of our prizes below!!

Speaking of strong princesses, we have to mention another favorite, The Princess in Black. We have reviewed all four books previously (book 1, 2, 3, and 4) and all four are prizes below!! She is one of Hazel's favorites!! They are easy reader chapter books. She is a frilly princess until her monster ring goes off and then she changes into the Princess in Black and goes to fight the monsters while the goat boy watches, but he does become a super hero in the last book as well so she can take a vacation. These are must read books!!

Now for some other books we love strong princesses but are unfortunately not part of the prizes. These books are wonderful resources as well though so I had to share them with you!! The first is another favorite of ours: The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven. I have mentioned it a few times before here and here (with a craft). This is the tale of a girl and a princess she makes out of paper. The princess blows away before the girl has a chance to finish her. The princess has an adventure but eventually finds her way home. Hazel has always loved this story and the princess does not care about how she looks or not having hair. It is a wonderful reminder of how one's work is so important and all that matters is how much you love it. 

Another favorite of ours is The Princess and the Dragon by Audrey Wood. We shared this book when we were doing the Virtual Book Club. In this tale the princess does not like to act like a princess and the dragon does not like to act like a dragon. They eventually switch places which makes everyone much happier. 

Another fun series are the Princess Truly books by Kelly Greenawalt and illustrated by Amariah Rauscher. I reviewed them at Multicultural Kid Blogs.  Princess Truly is a black princess with magical hair. She walks around with her dog, Sir Noodles, and helps the kids in her kingdom (usually white kids) solve different problems. These books are fun, sweet and magical. I love that the black princess has magic hair that helps solve some of the problems. I know Hazel has black friends who feel their hair is so different than their classmates and feel like it makes them stand out. These books share a different point of view on it. Love them!!

So those are some books to check out to see strong, intelligent and brave princesses. Now for our giveaway!! (Only a couple more days to enter!) Have you entered yet? 

Thank you to the following companies for their amazing donations:

Annick Press: The Nutmeg Princess  and The Paper Bag Princess
Candlewick Press: Princess Cora and the Crocodile, The Princess in Black Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party, Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde and Princess in Black Takes a Vacation
Goosebottom Books: Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia of Caria , Sorghaghtani of Mongolia, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, Isabella of Castile, Nur Jahan of India and Sacajawea of the Shoshone
I See Me! Books: Your choice of personalized  Princess Personalized Book or Royal Birthday Adventure
Penguin Kids: Princess Grace and Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible
Wisdom Tales Press: Princess Sophie and the Six Swans

Now is your chance to win these books!! Please follow my Giveaway Rules and US shipping only! Good luck!! (Come back all month to enter on each princess post. One of the entries can be done each day be leaving a comment on the posts in this series: Introduction, a Look at Real Life Princesses, Legends, Folktales, and Fairy Tales, Personalized Princess Books, and this post)

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