One of my weird hobbies as a mom and a feminist is to search for feminist literature—particularly picture books that feature strong female roles. There’s not much other media with such subject material, but when it comes to literature, there’s at least a wide selection. During my hunts, I found a simple picture book called The Paper Bag Princess. Written by Robert Munsch in 1980, it is the tale of an unconventional princess who has to save her prince from a fire-breathing dragon.

Unlike traditional fairy tales, not only does the princess save the day in this case; she also does so with her wits rather than a sword. At the beginning, Princess Elizabeth is madly in love with Prince Ronald, whom she is betrothed to. She wears princess clothes and is pretty much every inch the stereotypical princess. However, when a dragon comes along and smashes her castle to smithereens, kidnaps Ronald and pretty much scorches the land to nothing, she determinedly decides to save Ronald from the dragon.

The dragon, of course, burned her clothes off, so all she has left is a paper bag to wear. (Yes, it’s sort of ironic that her clothes burned but a thin paper bag did not—but that’s where you get the title and the story!) So she goes off to find the dragon, which dismisses her right away. He says he’s full and too busy, but he’d be happy to eat her the next day. The princess won’t let go, however, and challenges him to complete exhausting feats of strength that make him run out of his flame and fly quickly around the world until he just passes out. She doesn’t have to lift a finger to best the beast.

When she finally rescues Ronald, however, he scoffs at her ugly dress and scorched hair, telling her to come back for him when she looks like a real princess. She promptly calls him a bum, and decides not to marry him after all.

The story is very quick and fun, with simple text. The illustrations, completed by Michael Martchenko, are also very simple but funny, much like a comic book might look. Beginning readers could probably get through it, and listeners will love to listen to Elizabeth beat the dragon and to later stand up for herself against Ronald (my daughter’s two favorite parts; we borrowed the book from the library and she demanded that I read it three times in one sitting).

If you read the book’s 25^th anniversary edition (which I haven’t been able to find locally), it’s a full-color hardback book that explains the story behind it as well as the book’s impact over the years it’s been read. The book was inspired by the author’s wife, who demanded to know why in every story he told children the prince always saved the princess; why couldn’t it be the other way around, she wondered? In the original book he even made Elizabeth punch Ronald in the face, but he felt it looked too violent when illustrated, so he made her call him a bum instead.

The book is a delightful fairytale that both boys and girls have enjoyed since its publishing decades ago. If you can find a copy, be sure to read it to the kids in your life!