A Little Princess (Puffin in Bloom)

This book is very difficult to read due to bad editing. There are incorrect words the author never included, bad syntax and multiple misspellings. It's as if someone translated it from a foreign language badly. The book is a favorite, but I can't recommend this edition at all. Buy the paperback.

“The cover looks pretty. I liked the ending.” Per my 7 year old. Read it as an afternoon read aloud for my 7 and 5 year old. It was a hit! Definitely as good as I remembered from my childhood. It does have a sad, but happy. I love how it isn’t the perfect happy ending.

Prettiest version of this classic story I've seen. It came in perfect condition and I just love the illustrations and gold on this cover.

I am a grown man well into my years, and I am not afraid to admit that I just read this book for the first time ever, and I simply loved it. When I first heard about this book, the description of it sounded like something I would really enjoy reading, but because of the title, I was a little hesitant due to my masculine ego...hehe. But when I found out one of my co-workers, another grown man - lol, that this was one of his favorite books ever, and he also owned the DVD too, I had to give it a read. And I simply could not put it down. Let me tell you this: Drop Rambo and the Little Princess Sara Crewe down the deepest darkest abyss that you can find, and my money is on Sara Crewe climbing back out alive, and probably carrying Rambo on her little shoulders. Sara Crewe vs. Freddy Krueger? Ha! Freddy doesn't have a chance! Seriously, Sara Crewe has to be one of the top best fictional characters of all time. Sara Crewe is like a super hero trapped in a little girl's body. And while she doesn't have any super-powers; she can't climb walls or leap tall buildings, yet, her selfless acts of compassion and kindness, and her courage and determination in the face of adversity are truly heroic and inspirational. And her wonderous imagination, witty mind and dialogue are pure joy to read and will keep you turning the page until you sadly realize the story is already over. Everyone should read this book, no matter what age. I bought this little version of the book for my niece as gift because of its little size and cute appearance. Francess Hodgson Burnett has created a wonder, and this story will forever be a classic and a must read.

The cover of this book is absolutely stunning and is also the main reason why I purchased it. I love Rifle Paper Co. and everything Anna Bond designs. The story was actually really great, and I enjoyed reading it (as a 26 year-old female). I'm definitely looking forward to passing this book down to (hopefully) future daughters to enjoy. The only reason why it's not 5 stars is because there were two pages where the ink roller got messed up and smeared the ink across the page to where the text was illegible. I requested a replacement, which Amazon promptly ordered, and it seems to not have any issues like that (I haven't checked page by page yet). I order all 4 books in this design series and 2 out of 4 of them had this issue. It seems that whoever was in charge of the actual inside quality check did a poor job. Some of the page numbers in a couple of the other books are almost being cut off the edge of the page (poor placement). Other than that, the stories are classic and the outside covers are stunning. I definitely don't mind sitting these books on my shelf.

The death of Shirley Temple inspired me to download the movie“The Little Princess” from Amazon Instant movies. And that inspired me to order this unabridged version (but the original edition was called “Sara Crewe or what happened at Miss Minchin's.”) I had not read Princess for three quarters of a century (I am now well over 80) but I never forgot the charming book which I read many times as a child and thoroughly identified with the plucky little Sara, absorbing the atmosphere of foggy London and Sara's dismal attic, being happy with her when things were going well, shedding a tear or two when things were not. One of the scenes that haunted me most as a child was when Sara, cold and hungry, throws Emily, her beloved doll, on the floor and cries “You are nothing but a doll!” She is almost at the end of her tether, but not quite. Also, her giving a beggar child five of six rolls a kindly baker had given the half-starved Sara made a huge impression on me as a little girl. Children immerse themselves in books more thoroughly than an adult, they really live inside the plot, they can and do smell the roses. When Sara was hungry, so was I. Princess is a whacking good story which allows the tale to rise above being a lesson in morals. Kids don't want to be preached to but given a good story and interesting characters they'll get the point subtly. But that is also true with adults. Some reviewers have criticized the book because at the end of the story Becky went home with Sara as her maid. Author Burnett, however, is being true to 1899 London. The Cockney Becky could never be the equal of Sara Crewe the heiress. It's the way things were and to some extent the way things still are. Other reviewers have complained that Sara is too perfect. She is, however, too spunky to be insipid and she is certainly not goody-goody like Pollyanna. As a child reader I didn't regard her as too perfect nor do I now. You will laugh at an old lady reading a children's book she hasn't read in 75 years But now I read as a literary critic and Princess is not wanting in the quality of its writing and the deft originality of the plot. Ms. Burnett can write with beautifully apt descriptions and a taut, quickly moving plot. She in no way dumbs down her prose when writing for children. She puts you into foggy London right away, and introduces Sara and her father to Miss Minchin's Seminary “where the very armchairs seemed to have hard bones in them” and Miss Minchin herself had “large cold fishy eyes and a large cold fishy smile.” If you have any little girl in your family who has not read “The Little Princess” do pop the book into her Christmas stocking. She'll love it, trust me! And so will you!

I had heard of this book but until today I had never actually read it. I am glad I did. A line I particularly loved was ' Everything's a story. You are a story I am a story...' I think that is true.

Bought it for my 6 year old niece, the story is short and have quite good illustration so she liked it quite much. a perfect thing for young reading level 2.

I bought this as it was a favourite of mine as a child, and reading it again as an adult, I still found it a lovely story, although a much quicker read than it was 20 years ago!

美しく行間がたっぷりとってあり読みやすいです。イラストも素敵です。

Nice edition. but I expected more illustrations. The editions of Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables from this same collection have many more illustrations between their pages. I hoped that The Secret Garden and this were on the same level. I get a little disappointed. But if you liked manga style. This is for you.