Little Book of Princesses [antikvár]

t Wliat is a Princess? Princesses are the daughters of kings and queens, but in fairy tales there is a lot more to being a princess than that. Princesses are expected to keep their promises, to be good and kind, honest and honourable. They have to be true to their principles and true to the men they love. If they are cruel or selfish, they have to learn the right way to behave through suffering and hardship. Only then are they fit to become queens and rule kingdoms. So being a princess is as much about behaving in a certain way, as it is about having royal blood. The girls in these fairy tales are prepared to risk danger or disgrace in order to behave like a 'proper' princess. This anthology contains a mixture of popular favourites and less well-known tales, but they all feature princesses who take control of their lives. In The Magic Fan, Princess Imani sets out on a journey, disguised as a man, to rescue her love when he falls ill. In The Wild Swans, Princess Ellie risks execution to save her brothers from a terrible curse. In East of the Sun, West of the Moon, Princess Annalisa risks her life travelling with the North Wind to save the prince she betrayed. Princess Nerys kills snakes, braves the desert and snatches her husband from certain death in the River Nile to cheat fate in The Prince and the Three Fates. Few of the princesses in this book sit in a tower, waiting to be saved.