About this book
A Little Princess: Being the Whole Story of Sara Crewe Now Being Told for the First Time, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and first published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1905, is a children’s novel that follows Sara, a young girl whose father sent her to boarding school in England. Despite being very privileged, Sara remains kind and generous and befriends several of the more ‘undesirable’ girls at the school. In a cruel twist of fate, Sara is left alone and penniless, working tirelessly at the boarding school she once attended. Through the support of her vivid imagination and friends, she survives until a mysterious benefactor emerges. Sara finally escapes her dire circumstances and spreads joy with her giving nature.
It is a revised and expanded version of Burnett's 1888 serialized novel entitled "Sara Crewe: or, What happened at Miss Minchin's boarding school," which was first published in St. Nicholas Magazine in 1887. After she Burnett composed the 1902 play
A Little Un-fairy Princess based on that story, her publisher asked that she expand the story as a novel.
The widely acclaimed book has since been adapted into several movies, TV shows, musicals, and other theatre adaptations. Sara was played by Mary Pickford in the 1917 film, and Shirley Temple in 1939 version.
From the publisher
From the world-renowned author of Little Lord Fauntleroy and The Secret Garden, a story about a girl with an unquenchable capacity for forgiveness, trust, and hope... A strange little child, with old-fashioned ways and strong feelings, seven-year-old Sara Crewe arrives at Miss Minchin's London boarding school like a little princess: with splendid clothes of velvet, lace, and silk, beautiful dolls, furs, and even a French maid. But when a terrible misfortune leaves her penniless and alone, Sara's spirit never wanes. Here, in one of the best-loved children's stories in the world, we follow the adventures of the irrepressible Sara as she introduces us to a series of unforgettable characters: the perpetually cross Miss Minchin; the spirited and infinitely loving Large family; and the warmhearted scullery maid Becky. And when a mysterious Indian gentleman moves into the house next door, Sara's life is transformed once again, in a delightful tale as timeless as the dreams of young girls everywhere. With an Introduction by Meg Cabot
and an Afterword by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
First Edition Identification
The first edition of A Little Princess was published in September 1905 by Charles Scribner's Sons.
The first edition of the 1905 book published by Scribner contains 12 full-page color plates done by Ethel Franklin Betts.
Details
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Title
A Little Princess
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Author
Frances Hodgson Burnett; Afterword by Lynne Sharon Schwartz; Introduction by Meg Cabot
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Binding
Mass Market Paperbound
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Pages
256
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Volumes
1
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Language
ENG
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Publisher
Signet Book
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Date
2014-09
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ISBN
9780451469892 / 0451469895
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Weight
0.25 lbs (0.11 kg)
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Dimensions
6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 in (17.02 x 10.41 x 2.03 cm)
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Ages
08 to 12 years
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Grade levels
3 - 7
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Reading level
810
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Library of Congress subjects
London (England), Schools
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Library of Congress Catalog Number
2015410828
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Dewey Decimal Code
FIC
About the author
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) was born in Manchester, England, and immigrated with her family in 1865 to Tennessee, where she lived near Knoxville until her marriage to Dr. S. M. Burnett in 1873. At eighteen, she began publishing her stories in magazines such as Godey's Lady's Book and Scribner's. At twenty-eight, her novel That Lass o' Lowries, based on the colliery life she had known in England, became her first success, but she gained international fame with her children's story Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), a novel about an American boy who becomes heir to an English earldom. Its hero's long curls and velvet suit with lace collar became a popular fashion for little boys--and his name lives on as an epithet for overdressed or pompous children. Little Lord Fauntleroy was also successfully dramatized, just as a later novel, Sara Crewe, became the much better-known stage play The Little Princess (1905). In 1909, while laying out a garden at her new home on Long Island, Burnett conceived and wrote The Secret Garden (1911), her best and most enduring work. The author died in Plandome, New York. Meg Cabot's books for both adults and tweens/teens have included multiple number one New York Times best sellers, selling over 25 million copies worldwide. Her Princess Diaries series has been published in more than 38 countries and was made into two hit films by Disney. Cabot's numerous other award-winning books include the Abandon trilogy, the Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series, and the Heather Wells Mystery series. Lynne Sharon Schwartz, a native of Brooklyn, New York, has published nineteen books of fiction, nonfiction, essays, poetry and translation, including the novels Rough Strife (nominated for a National Book Award), Balancing Acts, Disturbances in the Field, and In the Family Way. Her reviews and criticism have appeared in many leading magazines and newspapers. She is the recipient of grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Foundation for the Arts, and she has taught in many writing programs here and abroad.
