Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Little Princess: (Illustrated)
    A Little Princess: (Illustrated)
    A Little Princess: (Illustrated)
    Ebook256 pages3 hours

    A Little Princess: (Illustrated)

    By Frances Hodgson Burnett

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Summary:


    Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London school, is left in poverty when her father dies, but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor.


     "Once on a dark winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night, an odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather slowly through the big thoroughfares."


      She sat with her feet tucked under her, and leaned against her father, who held her in his arm, as she stared out of the window at the passing people with a queer old-fashioned thoughtfulness in her big eyes.


      She was such a little girl that one did not expect to see such a look on her small face. It would have been an old look for a child of twelve, and Sara Crewe was only seven. The fact was, however, that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time.


      "The Little Princes, in this Illustrated book, a fantastic girl who Principally, she was thinking of what a queer thing it was that at one time one was in India in the blazing sun, and then in the middle of the ocean, and then driving in a strange vehicle through strange streets where the day was as dark as the night. She found this so puzzling that she moved closer to her father.."


    Illustrated by Murat UKray, By e-Kitap Projesi

    LanguageEnglish
    PublishereKitap Projesi
    Release dateApr 2, 2015
    ISBN9786155529368
    A Little Princess: (Illustrated)
    Author

    Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924), author of The Secret Garden, also in an Aladdin Classics edition, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, enjoyed wider popularity in her own time with both adult and child readers than many other writers.

    Read more from Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Related to A Little Princess

    Related ebooks

    Children's Action & Adventure For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Oct 3, 2019

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Feb 4, 2021

      I have a huge crush on a boy who plays in my br other’s football team. He is so cute! During a sleepover , I told my best friend, Penelope that I r eally liked him and that she was not allowed to tell anyone. I didn’t think any mor e about it, but wh

      2 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Dec 20, 2020

      It all started in P.E, I found a soccer ball behind the school gate and so I started practising with it. Then my crush yelled out, “Pass it to me!” with the cutest smile on his face, so of course I was going to kick it to him. But when I tried, I tri

      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Aug 8, 2019

      It was my school’s sports car nival day and I was about to run the r elay race. I was standing at the start line waiting for the race to begin and I was daydr eaming. I thought I hear d the starter so I started sprinting as fast as I could. Suddenly

      3 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Sep 13, 2020

      Totally EMBARRASSING
      2 min read

    • Article

      Pöny Up!

      Sep 2, 2021

      Pöny Up!
      1 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Jan 2, 2020

      Our swimming teacher took us diving off one of those proper diving boards. While I was waiting for my go I was so nervous that I started to cry. When it was my turn to dive, I was so scared that I didn’t think that I would be able to do it. I stood o

      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Sep 3, 2020

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Totally Entertaining

      Nov 14, 2021

      Totally Entertaining
      1 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Jun 13, 2021

      In music class, I was holding the microphone down at my side and I thought it was off. Well, I accidentally farted and it made a big noise and it went through all the speakers! My crush was standing next to me and I started crying and he said into th

      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Dec 5, 2019

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Mar 2, 2022

      I really want to be a singer when I’m older so when I heard our local club was holding a talent show for kids, I entered. I really wanted to wear a pair of ankle boots with my performance outfit but I didn’t own any and mum wouldn’t buy me a pair. My

      2 min read

    • Article

      Extra EMBARRASSING

      Apr 11, 2021

      Once, I was out on a farm and these goats came up behind me and started eating my pants. It was so embarrassing, I thought they were going to chew them off! Worst of all, my crush was there with me! OMTG! Frankie It was school picture day and I aske

      3 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Dec 3, 2020

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Nov 14, 2021

      Totally EMBARRASSING
      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Nov 4, 2021

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Feb 1, 2023

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Jul 12, 2020

      I was playing a game with my older sister and I lost, so she got to dress me in any outfit of her choice that I had to wear on our daily walk. She made me wear my dressing gown, a floppy leopard print sun hat, and tiny pink sunglasses. I also had to

      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing

      Dec 2, 2021

      Every Thursday I walk to school because my Mum starts work earlier than usual. One morning Mum told me to make sur e I took an umbrella with me because it might rain. I couldn’t find my umbr ella anywher e so I just left without it thinking I’ll be f

      2 min read

    • Article

      Big Nate Stars

      Mar 13, 2022

      Big Nate Stars
      3 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      May 10, 2020

      One time at school, I was running and someone left their lunch box on the floor and I didn’t see it. It made me trip over and I fell straight into a bin! It was soooo embarrassing! Kaitlin Got an embarro story to share? Email totalgirl@nextmedia.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Jan 6, 2022

      One day I was walking my dog in the park when he stopped to do his business. I had doggy poo bags with me so when he finished I scooped up the poo and put it in the garbage bin. As I turned around to continue walking I stepped in the biggest poo I ha

      2 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Oct 4, 2023

      It was lunchtime at school and my friends and I were sitting on the grass eating our lunch. It was almost time for the bell to ring so I thought I would go to the toilet quickly before it rang. When I stood up I didn’t realise that my shoelace was un

      3 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Jun 7, 2023

      It was a rainy day and I was running late. I was worried that I would miss the bus and have to walk to school, so I grabbed my bag and started running to the bus stop. I could see the bus approaching so I started running faster, but I didn’t see the

      3 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      May 3, 2023

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Are You A BLABBER MOUTH?

      Mar 2, 2022

      Are You A BLABBER MOUTH?
      2 min read

    • Article

      Are You A GIRLY-GIRL?

      Sep 7, 2022

      Are You A GIRLY-GIRL?
      1 min read

    • Article

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!

      Aug 6, 2020

      Whoa! How Embarrassing!
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Little Princess

    4/5

    2,671 ratings87 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      One of my favorite childhood books, about the daughter of a British soldier who was raised in India, but is sent to a British boarding school when her father is sent to war.
    • 4/5
      Ich habe das Buch zufällig bei Projekt Gutenberg gesehen und war leicht besorgt: Einerseits mochte ich zwar Der geheime Garten von der selben Autorin, hasste aber (und das nicht mal leidenschaftlich) den Anime Kleine Prinzessin Sara, den es früher gab. Oder vermutlich gibts ihn immer noch, zum Glück wird er aber nicht mehr gezeigt. Auf jeden Fall war meine Sorge unbegründet: Das Buch A Little Princess war toll.

      Ich konnte es kaum aus der Hand legen. Es war eins dieser Bücher, die einen fühlen lassen, als wäre man gefüllt mit warmer Schokolade während man in einem Haufen Welpen und Zuckerwatte liegt.

      “I liked you to listen to it,” said Sara. “If you tell stories, you like nothing so much as to tell them to peolpe who want to listen. I don’t know why it is. Would you like to hear the rest?”

      Einen Kritikpunkt habe ich: Sara war zu perfekt. Wie der Prototyp einer Mary Sue. Alles was sie tat, alles, was sie sagte, alles war perfekt. In ihrer allererste Unterrichtsstunde verkündet der Lehrer, dass er ihr nichts mehr beibringen könne, weil ihr Französisch vollendet sei. Und so geht es gerade weiter. Also ja. Mir sind Charakter mit einem kleinen Fehler natürlich lieber, auch bei Kinderbüchern. Es wäre zumindest schöner gewesen, wenn es nicht auf jeder Seite 10 mal erwähnt würde, wie toll Sara ist. Nach 5 Seiten dachte ich mir dann doch: Okay, jetzt weiß ichs. Muss man mir nicht mehr sagen.

      Als Sara dann jedoch zur Sklavin wurde ist das viel, viel besser geworden. Und ihr abmühen, sich weiter wie eine Prinzessin zu benehmen, obwohl sie seit 2 Tagen nichts mehr zu essen hatte, lässt sie dann doch viel menschlicher erscheinen.

      Ein echter Pluspunkt ist, dass Sara ein Buch nach dem anderen verschlingt. Wie ein Buchwurm wühlt sie sich durch jedes Buch, das sie in die Finger bekommt. Sie fiebert auf Neuerscheinungen hin. Und sie wäre generell ein Buchblogger, wenn sie heute am Leben wäre.

      Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddelny disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temtation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy to manage.

      Von daher ist es ein echtes, flauschig-warmes, Wohlfühlbuch.
    • 4/5
      Such a cute little book of Sara Crewe, whose father, stationed in India, sends her to boarding school in England. When she starts there she has lots of income which satisfies the insecure, jealous matron of the school. However, when things go downhill for Sara's father and his fortune, Sara's daily life takes a landslide downward. However, she is a very mature child and tries to act like she thinks a princess would act, with a fortune or without. And therein lays the story of her reaction to her situation and her encouragement of others. There is also an ongoing search for a mystery child which culminates at the end of the book. I enjoyed this children's book very much, and think it would be a wonderful book to read along with a child and discuss how he/she might react in a similar situation. I highly recommend this book :)
    • 5/5
      ara Crewe is a child gifted with a remarkable imagination, intelligence and a doting father. When her father dies, her intelligence is useful certainly, but it is her imagination that really pulls her through the tough times. She wonders in the beginning of the book whether she is actually nice or not, because she has never experienced a hardship. I really loved that when hardship came, she struggled to maintain her princess demeanor. She got angry and wanted to respond spitefully to ill treatment, but made the conscious decision to rise above. This makes Sara feel like a real girl, not like some absurd Pollyanna.

      I am always happy to find another book lover, and such is Sara Crewe. One of the most trying moments of the book for her in her battle to keep her temper is when her reading is interrupted: "Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment." Delightful.

      There was one element of the story that is a bit...odd...from a modern perspective. That is that the Indian servant, Ram Dass, watches Sara while she is inside and even comes into the room while she is sleeping. His intentions are entirely noble and he is doing good. Still...it's hard not to be at least a wee bit creeped out by that these days.

      Although a children's book, this classic loses nothing when read by an older audience. I highly recommend this to anyone who believes in magic! Also, if you haven't seen it, definitely check out the 1995 film version, because it manages to capture the magic of the book and even improve upon the story (in my opinion)!
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite books when I was young, along with The Secret Garden.
    • 5/5
      Probably the most touching book I have ever read, Frances Hodgson Burnett`s best book.
    • 5/5
      The imagination of Sarah, the princess, is what makes this book so amazing. Even though her life has been completely turned upside down, Sarah uses her imagination and the idea of 'What if she really were a princess' to keep her going through hard times. It's an incredible story with a main character that all girls can look up to. I would recommend this book to any girl, young and old.
    • 4/5
      A Little Princess was one of my favorite movies growing up but I had never read the book. I enjoyed it but I think I prefer the movie just to see her stories come to life.
    • 2/5
      Why did I read this? I'm not a girl. I'm not eight years old. I'm not living in the turn of the century. Well, I decided to read a little young adult fiction aimed at females, just to see what it was like. I'd just read "Jungle Book" and "Just So Stories", so I wanted to see how the other half lives. It apparently lives in a great deal of warm and fluffy feelings. Burnett must have been a genius to stretch this story out as long as she did. Talk about your Mary Sues. The "little princess" in question is a precocious girl from a colorful background traveling in mysterious India, who's dropped off at a girl's school. Everyone loves her, except for the trunchbull Miss Minchin. She spends half the time being the Jesus-figure for her obnoxious spoiled classmates, and the other half being a poor ragamuffin once her fortune's lost and she's relegated to scullery-maid (what is a scullery? And are they so dirty they need maids?). Then she uses her *imagination* (sparklies!) to rise above her poverty and remain a "princess".Anyway, I got an interesting glimpse of female characters during this time, and what they were into. Good thing we got out of that era.
    • 4/5
      This is the book that epitomizes the magic of reading for me. When I think back to childhood days curled up and reading for hours, very few characters drew me in as completely and utterly as Sara Crewe.
    • 3/5
      Do I really need to review this? You can tell perfectly well from the title whether it's something you're interested in reading or not.Anyway, there's absolutely no character arc and relatively little in the way of a plot but the novel will draw you along through it by sheer force of charm anyway. You cannot hope to beat Sara Crewe in princess-off. She is simply the best there is.
    • 3/5
      This was a different sort of story than most of what I read and the age of text makes for some interesting differences in social norms and socially acceptable terminology, but the plot left me satisfied. At least those who were cruel didn't get what they wanted and those who were kind recieved what they deserved and far more. Sarah was an interesting main character despite the over-the-top extravagance that she had bestowed upon herself. I don't know. The book was satisfying and for its time it was quite good, but it seems to have lost something in the past century or so.
    • 5/5
      That one should never see a film adaptation of a book, without first having read the original, is an idea so unconsciously accepted in my circle of family and friends that it usually admits no debate. But for every rule there are exceptions, and happily for my childhood, Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess was one of them. I had little taste for sentimental fiction as a child (oh, the irony!), and might have remained indifferent to Burnett's work, had I not seen the brilliant Wonderworks television adaptation of the novel. Released in 1987, it is the only decent film version ever made, and prompted me to read the book, followed in quick succession by The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Re-read countless times since, they have given me many hours of pleasure, winning a permanent place among my favorite books...The story of a young girl who comes face to face with the cruel, mercenary side of society, A Little Princess has always struck me as a tale of moral courage, simultaneously conventional and subversive. Sara Crewe is the daughter of privilege, despite her temporary poverty and genuine suffering, but she also exhibits a very democratic sensibility, and her behavior is not dictated by monetary concerns. She is as much a friend to poor Becky before the loss of her fortune, as she is afterward; just as she is with Ermengarde. She is, moreover, somewhat disdainful of adult authority, as exemplified by her relationship with Miss Minchin, whose initial "friendliness" she (rightfully) mistrusts. Successful as a portrait of a particular time and place, Burnett's A Little Princess also has qualities that give it a decidedly modern feeling...Addendum: Having just reread this childhood favorite, for our January discussion over at A Thrilling Term at Goodreads: The Girls' School-Story Group, I was struck by the many plot elements that are common in the genre, from the central conceit of a student whose circumstances are greatly reduced, and must work at the school (think Juliet Carrick, in The School at the Chalet, although Madge Bettany is no Miss Minchin), to the idea of one girl who plays "mother" to the younger ones (think L.T. Meade's The Little School-Mothers: A Story for Girls). My new-found familiarity with the genre definitely increased my appreciation of Burnett's classic, which now seemed, not only to be an immensely satisfying story, in its own right, but an interesting example of its genre.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoy this book despite it being completely contrary to my usual tastes. This truly is a classic for children (and unlike many classic children's books is actually appropriate for a modern child, unlike Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Barrie and several others that come to mind).
    • 5/5
      Rags to riches stories are a common enough trope, but A Little Princess turns that narrative on its head. Little Sara Crewe, who has been given everything by her dear papa, is sent to a London board schooling, as was the custom amongst the wealthy in England at the time. There, everyone - children and adults alike - marvel at her beautiful things and declare her "a little princess." Contrary to the stereotype about rich children, Sara is not spoiled and bratty, but rather is considerate and polite. She makes friends with the other children at school, particularly with those who are overlooked by others - slow Ermengarde, tantrum-throwing little Lottie, and scullery maid Becky - instead of aligning herself with the school "mean girls" Lavinia and Jessie. Sara is also clever and imaginative, which sometimes causes others to view her as a bit peculiar, although overall she is well liked. She has a tendency to become solemn and philosophical, and sometimes wonders if she would be so nice if circumstances had been different and she had been born without wealth and privilege. Perhaps, she surmises, she is only kind because when you have everything, there is no reason to be unkind.One day, everything changes for small Sara, and she is given the opportunity to see just what sort of person she is when the tangible goods are taken from her life. On her 11th birthday, news reaches the boarding school that her beloved father has died and due to his unwise business investments, she is now not only orphaned but also penniless. The boarding school headmistress, Miss Minchin, who never really liked Sara as a person but only for her money, is apoplectic with having Sara's care foisted upon her. She responds by taking all of Sara's possessions away from her and forcing her to become a servant at the school.But all is not lost. Sara's cleverness and kindness served her well in the past and continue to do so, even in her reduced circumstances. Those who loved her for these qualities continue to do so and look out for her well-being to the best of their ability. Little Sara is indeed a model for us all with her kindness even in the face of destitution and misuse. Still, at times it becomes a tragedy of error, almost Shakespearean with mistaken identities and just missed opportunities for enlightenment, as Sara and her father's friend/business partner Mr. Carrisford are literally next door from one another but kept apart due to their ignorance of each other's significance. Meanwhile, poor Sara suffers the ill effects of poverty and misuse while Mr. Carrisford is wracked with guilt over not being able to find Sara. The narrative makes this time period seem to past relatively quickly but at the end it is noted more than once that the full time period is two years. This is hard, long time indeed for this poor little girl. In true fairy tale like fashion, Sara's fortunes eventually reverse and turn out for the better while Miss Minchin and the mean girls of the school get the chance to re-evaluate their actions. While this isn't the reality I've known, it's nice to live in this world for a little while, imagining that all good people eventually get their just desserts and those unkind people will eventually be reprimanded. It was perhaps for this reason that this book was a childhood favorite of mine. Re-reading this book as an adult, I did notice that there are some troubling depictions of people of lower classes, non-Anglo ethnic backgrounds, and less than ideal body figures. But these aren't overwhelming and you have to take the book as a product of its time. Ram Dass talking about he was always watching the child as she sleeps, peering in through her window, and knowing her every coming and going, is also a bit creepy to re-read as an adult but his intentions are the best as he does this to learn what she needs. This ends up being of great benefit to Sara during the worse of her troubles. One final note: Although I still own my hard copy of this book from childhood, I opted to re-read the book as an audio version this time. The audio narrator, Justine Eyre, was stupendous and I highly recommend this version for the audiophile.
    • 5/5
      Sara Crewe is a very rich little girl.But her father dead,she was poor.I was impressed with Sara's kindness and humility.
    • 5/5
      I read this book every year. It's about Sarah, doted upon by her father, who gets sent to England to boarding school. While there, her father invests all his fortune in diamond mines, contracts a fever and dies thinking everything is lost. Sarah then becomes an poor orphan until her father's friend finds her and returns her fortune.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Frances Hodgson Burnett has writen a heartwarming story of a young girl. Losing her father. And being placed in a school for little girls. It is here where she learns the truth about some people and their hard ways. She learns to act like a little princess. She learns about caring for others and others learn to care about her.
    • 5/5
      A riches to rags to riches story, this great children's classic is about a privileged girl who is able to hold on to hope through imagination despite terrible circumstances. Beautifully written, charming story set in Victorian England.
    • 4/5
      Thoughts: This story is a good story about love and loss. I liked this book because it shows a way to cope with the loss of a loved one and how even though the girl lost everything she was still able to be kind to others. This book has great values that children should learn when growing up. I enjoyed this book very much I thought that is shows how resiliant children are. When I was reading this book it was like a was there in the school experiencing everything with Sarah. Summary: A young girl who grew up in India and moves to France to go to school while her father goes to war. To keep herself intertained she makes up stories to tell the other girls at the school. One day a message comes that her father has been killed in the war. She has nowhere else to go, so the owner of the school makes her a house maid. She has to clean the other girls rooms and take wood to there fireplaces. Eventually some of the girls start to speak to her again and she tells them more stories of India.Classroom Extensions:1) I would have this book on my self so that my students could read it on their own time. After the student read the book I would have him/her do a story map. 2) I would have my student write out what the main idea of the story, and how their thinking changed through the book.
    • 4/5
      Pretty sickly sweet kind of children's book. I'm sure that Sara was just that perfect, right? But all children can have a goal and I suppose it is a good goal. Very similar to the film with Shirley Temple, except for the ending. Since I'd already seen the film, I pretty much knew what was coming up. Cute read.
    • 5/5
      I must have read this book at least half a dozen times as a child. It had my childhood self imagining vividly the happenings, and cheering for Sarah to overcome what tragedies had befallen her. A perfect book for a imaginative young girl,one just past American Girl book reading age.
    • 5/5
      Sara Crewe lives in India with her father, but is moved to a boarding school in England when he is convinced it will be best for her. She is very rich and is treated very well until her father dies after losing all of his money. She is banished to the attic and forced to work as a servant. She is treated horribly and is close to starving and freezing all the time, but she remains kind, thoughtful, and graceful. She catches the attention of a rich neighbor who she discovers is her father's business partner. He takes her in and she takes the other servant girl with her.I adore Frances Hodgson Burnett books, and A Little Princess in particular. I think Sara Crewe is a wonderful role model for children. She is unwavering in her belief in right and wrong and will not be bullied by anyone. She is open and honest and cares deeply about everyone, including the mice who infest the attic. I will never forget the part where she buys some bread and gives it to a starving girl outside, even though she is malnourished herself, which inspires the baker to hire that girl. I think the lesson, about doing what is right no matter what and caring about others, is a beautiful one. I also think the old-fashioned writing, though difficult, would be perfect for expanding kids' vocabulary and sentence structure, and fits right in the the Common Core Standards.
    • 5/5
      While I love this story, there is a reference to "magic" and "the magician" which needs explaining. It is not true magic, but the man who gives the girls presents during the night while they sleep which they wake up and think it is magic.
    • 4/5
      When faced with adversity, a little rich girl (Sarah Crewe), manifests the noblest characteristics of a princess. Happy ending.
    • 4/5
      a very special book, one which i felt sad about when it ended.
    • 4/5
      My mother gave me my copy of this book when I was in third grade. I can remember carrying the book with me everywhere, reading it over and over. I think the story still stands up as classic "girl's" literature. (Side note: The image of London both in this story and in all of Dickens' novels was so vivid in my mind that when I finally got to London as an adult, I was almost shocked that there weren't horse drawn carriages and gaslights on all the streets.)
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite childhood books, about the daughter of a British soldier who was raised in India, but is sent to a British boarding school when her father is sent to war.
    • 5/5
      This is a book that teaches a fundamental lesson: to never, ever, lose hope.
    • 5/5
      I love love love this story! Such a beautiful tale of a young girl! Of course, the fatherdaughter relationship made me sob in parts, but I loved it! So beautiful, pretty and innocent! A little slow at times, but still amazing!

    Book preview

    A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett

    A Little Princess {Illustrated}

    By

    Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Illustrated by Murat Ukray

    ILLUSTRATED &

    PUBLISHED BY

    e-KİTAP PROJESİ & CHEAPEST BOOKS

    www.cheapestboooks.com 

    www.facebook.com/EkitapProjesi

    Copyright, 2014 by e-Kitap Projesi

    Istanbul

    ISBN: 978-61555-293-68

    A Little Princess

    By

    Frances Hodgson Burnett,

    Illustrated

    by

    m. ukray, 

    2014

    Summary:

    Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London school, is left in poverty when her father dies, but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor.

    Table of Contents

    A Little Princess {Illustrated}

    1- Sara

    2- A French Lesson

    3- Ermengarde

    4- Lottie

    5- Becky

    6- The Diamond Mines

    7- The Diamond Mines Again

    8- In the Attic

    9- Melchisedec

    10- The Indian Gentleman

    11- Ram Dass

    12- The Other Side of the Wall

    13- One of the Populace

    14- What Melchisedec Heard and Saw

    15- The Magic

    16- The Visitor

    17- It Is the Child!

    18- I Tried Not to Be

    19- Anne

    1- Sara

    Once on a dark winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night, an odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather slowly through the big thoroughfares.

    She sat with her feet tucked under her, and leaned against her father, who held her in his arm, as she stared out of the window at the passing people with a queer old-fashioned thoughtfulness in her big eyes.

    She was such a little girl that one did not expect to see such a look on her small face. It would have been an old look for a child of twelve, and Sara Crewe was only seven. The fact was, however, that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time.

    At this moment she was remembering the voyage she had just made from Bombay with her father, Captain Crewe. She was thinking of the big ship, of the Lascars passing silently to and fro on it, of the children playing about on the hot deck, and of some young officers' wives who used to try to make her talk to them and laugh at the things she said.

    Principally, she was thinking of what a queer thing it was that at one time one was in India in the blazing sun, and then in the middle of the ocean, and then driving in a strange vehicle through strange streets where the day was as dark as the night. She found this so puzzling that she moved closer to her father.

    Papa, she said in a low, mysterious little voice which was almost a whisper, papa.

    What is it, darling? Captain Crewe answered, holding her closer and looking down into her face. What is Sara thinking of?

    Is this the place? Sara whispered, cuddling still closer to him. Is it, papa?

    Yes, little Sara, it is. We have reached it at last. And though she was only seven years old, she knew that he felt sad when he said it.

    It seemed to her many years since he had begun to prepare her mind for the place, as she always called it. Her mother had died when she was born, so she had never known or missed her. Her young, handsome, rich, petting father seemed to be the only relation she had in the world. They had always played together and been fond of each other. She only knew he was rich because she had heard people say so when they thought she was not listening, and she had also heard them say that when she grew up she would be rich, too. She did not know all that being rich meant. She had always lived in a beautiful bungalow, and had been used to seeing many servants who made salaams to her and called her Missee Sahib, and gave her her own way in everything. She had had toys and pets and an ayah who worshipped her, and she had gradually learned that people who were rich had these things. That, however, was all she knew about it.

    During her short life only one thing had troubled her, and that thing was the place she was to be taken to some day. The climate of India was very bad for children, and as soon as possible they were sent away from it—generally to England and to school. She had seen other children go away, and had heard their fathers and mothers talk about the letters they received from them. She had known that she would be obliged to go also, and though sometimes her father's stories of the voyage and the new country had attracted her, she had been troubled by the thought that he could not stay with her.

    Couldn't you go to that place with me, papa? she had asked when she was five years old. Couldn't you go to school, too? I would help you with your lessons.

    But you will not have to stay for a very long time, little Sara, he had always said. You will go to a nice house where there will be a lot of little girls, and you will play together, and I will send you plenty of books, and you will grow so fast that it will seem scarcely a year before you are big enough and clever enough to come back and take care of papa.

    She had liked to think of that. To keep the house for her father; to ride with him, and sit at the head of his table when he had dinner parties; to talk to him and read his books—that would be what she would like most in the world, and if one must go away to the place in England to attain it, she must make up her mind to go. She did not care very much for other little girls, but if she had plenty of books she could console herself. She liked books more than anything else, and was, in fact, always inventing stories of beautiful things and telling them to herself. Sometimes she had told them to her father, and he had liked them as much as she did.

    Well, papa, she said softly, if we are here I suppose we must be resigned.

    He laughed at her old-fashioned speech and kissed her. He was really not at all resigned himself, though he knew he must keep that a secret. His quaint little Sara had been a great companion to him, and he felt he should be a lonely fellow when, on his return to India, he went into his bungalow knowing he need not expect to see the small figure in its white frock come forward to meet him. So he held her very closely in his arms as the cab rolled into the big, dull square in which stood the house which was their destination.

    It was a big, dull, brick house, exactly like all the others in its row, but that on the front door there shone a brass plate on which was engraved in black letters:

    MISS MINCHIN, Select Seminary for Young Ladies.

    Here we are, Sara, said Captain Crewe, making his voice sound as cheerful as possible. Then he lifted her out of the cab and they mounted the steps and rang the bell. Sara often thought afterward that the house was somehow exactly like Miss Minchin. It was respectable and well furnished, but everything in it was ugly; and the very armchairs seemed to have hard bones in them. In the hall everything was hard and polished—even the red cheeks of the moon face on the tall clock in the corner had a severe varnished look. The drawing room into which they were ushered was covered by a carpet with a square pattern upon it, the chairs were square, and a heavy marble timepiece stood upon the heavy marble mantel.

    As she sat down in one of the stiff mahogany chairs, Sara cast one of her quick looks about her.

    I don't like it, papa, she said. But then I dare say soldiers—even brave ones—don't really LIKE going into battle.

    Captain Crewe laughed outright at this. He was young and full of fun, and he never tired of hearing Sara's queer speeches.

    Oh, little Sara, he said. What shall I do when I have no one to say solemn things to me? No one else is as solemn as you are.

    But why do solemn things make you laugh so? inquired Sara.

    Because you are such fun when you say them, he answered, laughing still more. And then suddenly he swept her into his arms and kissed her very hard, stopping laughing all at once and looking almost as if tears had come into his eyes.

    It was just then that Miss Minchin entered the room. She was very like her house, Sara felt: tall and dull, and respectable and ugly. She had large, cold, fishy eyes, and a large, cold, fishy smile. It spread itself into a very large smile when she saw Sara and Captain Crewe. She had heard a great many desirable things of the young soldier from the lady who had recommended her school to him. Among other things, she had heard that he was a rich father who was willing to spend a great deal of money on his little daughter.

    It will be a great privilege to have charge of such a beautiful and promising child, Captain Crewe, she said, taking Sara's hand and stroking it. Lady Meredith has told me of her unusual cleverness. A clever child is a great treasure in an establishment like mine.

    Sara stood quietly, with her eyes fixed upon Miss Minchin's face. She was thinking something odd, as usual.

    Why does she say I am a beautiful child? she was thinking. I am not beautiful at all. Colonel Grange's little girl, Isobel, is beautiful. She has dimples and rose-colored cheeks, and long hair the color of gold. I have short black hair and green eyes; besides which, I am a thin child and not fair in the least. I am one of the ugliest children I ever saw. She is beginning by telling a story.

    She was mistaken, however, in thinking she was an ugly child. She was not in the least like Isobel Grange, who had been the beauty of the regiment, but she had an odd charm of her own. She was a slim, supple creature, rather tall for her age, and had an intense, attractive little face. Her hair was heavy and quite black and only curled at the tips; her eyes were greenish gray, it is true, but they were big, wonderful eyes with long, black lashes, and though she herself did not like the color of them, many other people did. Still she was very firm in her belief that she was an ugly little girl, and she was not at all elated by Miss Minchin's flattery.

    I should be telling a story if I said she was beautiful, she thought; and I should know I was telling a story. I believe I am as ugly as she is—in my way. What did she say that for?

    After she had known Miss Minchin longer she learned why she had said it. She discovered that she said the same thing to each papa and mamma who brought a child to her school.

    Sara stood near her father and listened while he and Miss Minchin talked. She had been brought to the seminary because Lady Meredith's two little girls had been educated there, and Captain Crewe had a great respect for Lady Meredith's experience. Sara was to be what was known as a parlor boarder, and she was to enjoy even greater privileges than parlor boarders usually did. She was to have a pretty bedroom and sitting room of her own; she was to have a pony and a carriage, and a maid to take the place of the ayah who had been her nurse in India.

    I am not in the least anxious about her education, Captain Crewe said, with his gay laugh, as he held Sara's hand and patted it. The difficulty will be to keep her from learning too fast and too much. She is always sitting with her little nose burrowing into books. She doesn't read them, Miss Minchin; she gobbles them up as if she were a little wolf instead of a little girl. She is always starving for new books to gobble, and she wants grown-up books—great, big, fat ones—French and German as well as English—history and biography and poets, and all sorts of things. Drag her away from her books when she reads too much. Make her ride her pony in the Row or go out and buy a new doll. She ought to play more with dolls.

    Papa, said Sara, you see, if I went out and bought a new doll every few days I should have more than I could be fond of. Dolls ought to be intimate friends. Emily is going to be my intimate friend.

    Captain Crewe looked at Miss Minchin and Miss Minchin looked at Captain Crewe.

    Who is Emily? she inquired.

    Tell her, Sara, Captain Crewe said, smiling.

    Sara's green-gray eyes looked very solemn and quite soft as she answered.

    She is a doll I haven't got yet, she said. She is a doll papa is going to buy for me. We are going out together to find her. I have called her Emily. She is going to be my friend when papa is gone. I want her to talk to about him.

    Miss Minchin's large, fishy smile became very flattering indeed.

    What an original child! she said. What a darling little creature!

    Yes, said Captain Crewe, drawing Sara close. She is a darling little creature. Take great care of her for me, Miss Minchin.

    Sara stayed with her father at his hotel for several days; in fact, she remained with him until he sailed away again to India. They went out and visited many big shops together, and bought a great many things. They bought, indeed, a great many more things than Sara needed; but Captain Crewe was a rash, innocent young man and wanted his little girl to have everything she admired and everything he admired himself, so between them they collected a wardrobe much too grand for a child of seven. There were velvet dresses trimmed with costly furs, and lace dresses, and embroidered ones, and hats with great, soft ostrich feathers, and ermine coats and muffs, and boxes of tiny gloves and handkerchiefs and silk stockings in such abundant supplies that the polite young women behind the counters whispered to each other that the odd little girl with the big, solemn eyes must be at least some foreign princess—perhaps the little daughter of an Indian rajah.

    And at last they found Emily, but they went to a number of toy shops and looked at a great many dolls before they discovered her.

    I want her to look as if she wasn't a doll really, Sara said. I want her to look as if she LISTENS when I talk to her. The trouble with dolls, papa—and she put her head on one side and reflected as she said it—the trouble with dolls is that they never seem to HEAR. So they looked at big ones and little ones—at dolls with black eyes and dolls with blue—at dolls with brown curls and dolls with golden braids, dolls dressed and dolls undressed.

    You see, Sara said when they were examining one who had no clothes. If, when I find her, she has no frocks, we can take her to a dressmaker and have her things made to fit. They will fit better if they are tried on.

    After a number of disappointments they decided to walk and look in at the shop windows and let the cab follow them. They had passed two or three places without even going in, when, as they were approaching a shop which was really not a very large one, Sara suddenly started and clutched her father's arm.

    Oh, papa! she cried. There is Emily!

    A flush had risen to her face and there was an expression in her green-gray eyes as if she had just recognized someone she was intimate with and fond of.

    She is actually waiting there for us! she said. Let us go in to her.

    Dear me, said Captain Crewe, I feel as if we ought to have someone to introduce us.

    You must introduce me and I will introduce you, said Sara. But I knew her the minute I saw her—so perhaps she knew me, too.

    Perhaps she had known her. She had certainly a very intelligent expression in her eyes when Sara took her in her arms. She was a large doll, but not too large to carry about easily; she had naturally curling golden-brown hair, which hung like a mantle about her, and her eyes were a deep, clear, gray-blue, with soft, thick eyelashes which were real eyelashes and not mere painted lines.

    Of course, said Sara, looking into her face as she held her on her knee, of course papa, this is Emily.

    So Emily was bought and actually taken to a children's outfitter's shop and measured for a wardrobe as grand as Sara's own. She had lace frocks, too, and velvet and muslin ones, and hats and coats and beautiful lace-trimmed underclothes, and gloves and handkerchiefs and furs.

    I should like her always to look as if she was a child with a good mother, said Sara. I'm her mother, though I am going to make a companion of her.

    Captain Crewe would really have enjoyed the shopping tremendously, but that a sad thought kept tugging at his heart. This all meant that he was going to be separated from his beloved, quaint little comrade.

    He got out of his bed in the middle of that night and went and stood looking down at Sara, who lay asleep with Emily in her arms. Her black hair was spread out on the pillow and Emily's golden-brown hair mingled with it, both of them had lace-ruffled nightgowns, and both had long eyelashes which lay and curled up on their cheeks. Emily looked so like a real child that Captain Crewe felt glad she was there. He drew a big sigh and pulled his mustache with a boyish expression.

    Heigh-ho, little Sara! he said to himself I don't believe you know how much your daddy will miss you.

    The next day he took her to Miss Minchin's and left her there. He was to sail away the next morning. He explained to Miss Minchin that his solicitors, Messrs. Barrow & Skipworth, had charge of his affairs in England and would give her any advice she wanted, and that they would pay the bills she sent in for Sara's expenses. He would write to Sara twice a week, and she was to be given every pleasure she asked for.

    She is a sensible little thing, and she never wants anything it isn't safe to give her, he said.

    Then he went with Sara into her little sitting room and they bade each other good-by. Sara sat on his knee and held the lapels of his

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1