Picture Books
Allen, Joy. Princess Party. A princess can be pretty in pink, green or red, in jeans or a dress, with either boots or high heels, defend her castle or dance at the ball, because she is an incredible girl.
Allen, Joy. Princess Palooza. Six imaginative little girls spend a day having fun together at a princess-themed playground.
Andrews, Julie. The Very Fairy Princess. Despite her scabby knees and dirty fingernails, Geraldine knows that she is a princess inside and shows it through her behavior at home and in school.
Auch, Mary Jane. The Princess and the Pizza. An out-of-work princess applies to become the bride of Prince Drupert, but first she must pass several tests, including a cooking contest.
Bateman, Teresa. The Princesses Have a Ball. In this rhyming update of the fairy tale of the “Twelve Dancing Princesses,” twelve princesses wear out their shoes playing basketball.
Beaton, Kate. The Princess and the Pony. Princess Pinecone would like a real war horse for her birthday, instead of which she gets a plump, cute pony – but sometimes cuteness can be a kind of weapon, especially in a fight with dodgeballs and spitballs and hairballs and squareballs.
Bone, Jeffrey. Not Every Princess. Activities are listed that are stereotypically, but not always, attributed to princesses, fairies, pirates, superheroes, and more. Readers are encouraged to imagine what one could be, despite others’ expectations.
Brownlee, Sophia Grace. Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie. Cousins Sophia Grace and Rosie plan a princess tea party, with invitations and costumes.
Calvert, Pam. Princess Peepers. When the other princesses make fun of her for wearing glasses, Princess Peepers vows to go without, but after several mishaps – one of which is especially coincidental – she admits that she really does need them if she wants to see.
Clarkson, Stephanie. Sleeping Cinderella and other Princess Mix-ups. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel are all unhappy, but when they decide to switch places for a day each discovers what she likes – and what she can change – about her own life.
Coh, Smiljana. Princesses on the Run. Feeling bored despite having pretty dresses, trendy toys, and a friendly elephant companion, Princess Antonia decides to run away and shares an unexpected adventure with friends Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.
Coyle, Carmela LaVigna. Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs?A young girl takes a hike with her father, asking many questions along the way about what princesses do.
Cuyler, Margery. Princess Bess Gets Dressed. A fashionably dressed princess reveals her favorite clothes at the end of a busy day.
Dale, Penny. Princess, Princess. A young princess and her friends sleep under the spell of a fairy she forgot to invite to her birthday party, until someone comes along to awaken them.
Edwards, Pamela Duncan. Princess Pigtoria and the Pea. To make her pigsty of a palace picturesque again, penniless Princess Pigtoria tries to get the pompous porker Prince Proudfoot to propose marriage.
Emmett, Johnathon. The Princess and the Pig. When a new baby princess accidentally changes places with a piglet, both of their lives are forever changed.
Falconer, Ian. Olivia and the Fairy Princesses.Olivia is having an identity crisis! There are too many ruffly, sparkly princesses around these days, and Olivia has had quite enough. She needs to stand out! She has to be special! What will she be? Join Olivia on a hilarious quest for individuality in this latest book of the OLIVIA series, and rest assured, you won’t find THIS pig in pink!”
Gow, Nancy. Ten Big Toes and a Prince’s Nose. A lovely princess with enormous feet and a charming prince with a huge nose meet on a ski lift and, while their flaws are hidden, fall in love.
Greenawalt, Kelly. Princess Truly in my Magical, Sparkling Curls. When Princess Truly believes in herself, her curls begin to shine and can magically transport her to the distant past, on an underwater adventure, or to Mars.
Hart, Caryl. The Princess and the Giant. When Princess Sophie cannot get any sleep because of the noisy giant above her, she climbs a beanstalk to see if she can solve the problem.
Heide, Florence Parry. Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated). Princess Hyacinth is bored and unhappy sitting in her palace every day because, unless she is weighed down by specially-made clothes, she will float away, but her days are made brighter when kite-flying Boy stops to say hello.
Heos, Bridget. Who Wants to be a Princess? What it was really like to be a medieval princess.
Hoffman, Mary. Princess Grace. Grace wants to participate in her community festival’s princess float, but first she must decide what sort of a princess she wants to be–from an African princess in kente cloth robes to a floaty pink fairy tale princess.
Holabird, Katharine. Angelina and the Princess. Angelina is too sick to dance well during the tryouts for the lead in the “Princess of Mouseland” ballet, but when the leading ballerina sprains her foot, Angelina is ready to prove she is still the best dancer of all.
Howland, Naomi. Princess Says Goodnight. Rhyming text presents what a princess might do between leaving the ball and saying goodnight.
Joosse, Barbara M. Lovabye Dragon. When a lonely dragon follows a trail of princess tears, a beautiful friendship is born. They march and sing, roar and whisper, hide and seek, then settle into snug companionship at bedtime.
Kann, Victoria. Pinkalicious. A little girl who is obsessed with the color pink eats so many pink cupcakes that she herself turns pink.
Kargman, Jill. Pirates & Princesses. Ivy and Fletch have been best friends since they were born but now, at age five, the boys in their kindergarten play Pirates at recess while the girls play Princesses, and the duo is split apart.
Katz, Karen. Princess Baby. A little girl wants to be called by her “real” name, Princess Baby, instead of the other nicknames her parents have for her. (Board Book)
Kleven, Elisa. The Paper Princess. A little girl makes a picture of a princess that comes to life and is carried off by the wind.
Kuipers, Alice. Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairy Tale. Twins Violet and Victor write a fairy tale together, with Violet contributing a castle, a princess, and unicorns and Victor adding a fairy tale-hating witch and a bevy of Australian animals.
Lum, Kate. Princesses Are Not Just Pretty. When Princesses Mellie, Allie, and Libby begin to argue about which princess is the prettiest, they decide to hold a contest. But of course, the girls get side-tracked helping others on their way to the contest leaving Princess Mellie as the muddiest, Princess Allie as the yuckiest, and Princess Libby as the drippiest. But due to their kindness, the princesses win in the end.
Mayhew, James. Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella. After ballet class, Ella Bella listens to the music from the Cinderella ballet and is transported into the story.
McKenzie, Heath. My Rules for being a Pretty Princess. When a girl who wants nothing more than to be a pretty princess finds out exactly what that entails, she rewrites the rules to suit her style.
Miura, Taro. The Big Princess. When the king and queen find a very tiny princess in their garden, they adopt her and make a bed for her from a feather, but the girl begins to grow so much that she needs a new bed every night, and eventually gets too big for the castle itself.
Orr, Wendy. The Princess and Her Panther. A brave princess and a panther who tries to be brave cross the desert together and settle into a red silk tent, in which they listen to “leaf-snakes,” an “owl-witch,” and other frightening creatures until the princess frightens them away.
Portis, Antoinette. Princess Super Kitty. Maggie, a little girl with a huge imagination, becomes a cat, a superhero, a princess, and more in the course of a day.
Redmond, E.S. The Unruly Queen. Minerva Von Vyle has had fifty-two nannies in fifty-two weeks due to her terrible behavior, but when nanny number fifty-three offers to crown her the “Unruly Queen,” Minerva begins to have some doubts.
Sauer, Tammi. Princess in Training. Viola is a skateboarding, karate-chopping, moat-diving princess, to the distress of her parents, and so she accepts an invitation to Princess Camp, hoping to become the “darling of her kingdom.”
Schneider, Josh. Princess Sparkle-Heart gets a Makeover. Amelia and her best friend, Princess Sparkle-Heart, do almost everything together, so when the Princess suffers an accident, Amelia’s mother puts her sewing box to good use and makes the doll better than ever.
Wilson, Henrik. The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas. Prince Henrik makes a plan to find a wife who is nothing like his royal brother’s wife, who he thinks is too sensitive.
Beginning Readers
Andersen/Blackaby. The Princess and the Pea. By feeling a pea through twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds, a girl proves that she is a real princess.
Benton, Lynne. The Sad Princess. The princess is so sad that no one can cheer her up, until two naughty monkeys come to the palace.
Disney Princesses. Various Titles. A collection of books featuring the Disney princesses.
Kann, Victoria. The Royal Tea Party (Pinkalicious).Pinkalicious throws a tea party to celebrate her crowning of Goldie as Princess Goldilicious, but when Peter has ideas of his own; the perfect party could be in jeopardy.
Illustrated Literature
Alley, Zoe B. There’s a Princess in the Palace. Cinderella, Snow White, and three other well-known princesses share a surprising connection in these fairy tale retellings presented in comic book format.
Bardhan-Quallen, Sudipta. The Pirate Princess. Tired of the royal life, Princess Bea boards a pirate ship and sets out for adventure on the high seas but soon finds she is not good at swabbing decks, cooking in the galley, or keeping watch from the crow’s nest.
Don’t Kiss the Frog! Princess Stories with Attitude. Puts a twist on the classic fairy tale through a collection of six stories that features an array of spunky princesses who aren’t as eager to find a prince as they are to face down dragons and deal with whatever dangers come their way using their clever minds, quick wit, and unquestionable courage.
French, Vivian. The Most Wonderful Thing in the World. A retelling of a fairy tale follows a young man who becomes a princess’ unlikely suitor when the king and queen issue a decree that whoever presents them with the most wonderful thing in the world will win their daughter’s hand in marriage.
Gravett, Emily. Spells. A small green frog’s hilarious misadventures as he looks for his princess.
Lechermeier, Phillippe. The Secret Lives of Princesses. Exposes the hidden lives of such lesser-known figures as Princess Molly Coddle, Princess Miss Hap, and Princess Anne Phibian, revealing where they live, what they whisper about, and what sorts of pets they own.
Martin, Rafe. The Storytelling Princess. Having survived a shipwreck, a princess tries to tell a prince a story whose ending he does not know and thus qualify for his hand in marriage.
Noyes, Deborah. Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China. In long-ago China, as a young princess prepares to leave her parents’ kingdom to travel to far-off Khotan where she is to marry the king, she decides to surreptitiously take with her a precious reminder of home.
Ray, Jane. The Apple-Pip Princess. In a land that has stood barren, parched by drought and ravaged by frosts since the Queen’s death, the King sets his three daughters the task of making the kingdom bloom again, and discovers that sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference.
Sorensen, Margot. Ambrose and the Princess. At Christmastime, Ambrose the mouse hides in unhappy Princess Eleanor’s silken purse, hoping to discover what will make her happy.
Strauss, Linda Leopold. The Princess Gown. If the wedding dress young Hanna’s family is making is not chosen for the princess, they will go to the poor house but thanks to Hanna’s sharp eyes and artistic ability, her father stands a very good chance of becoming Embroiderer to the Princess.
Thurber, James. Many Moons. Though many try, only the court jester is able to fulfill Princess Lenore’s wish for the moon.
Non-Fiction
Traditional princess tales are located in the non-fiction section between J 398.2 and J 398.24.
J 305.5 Lee. Lee, Sally. Princes and Princesses.
J 940.0992 Bre. Brewster, Hugh. To be a Princess: The Fascinating Lives of Real Princesses.
J 940.0992 Wil. Wilding, Valerie. Real Princesses: An Inside Look at Royal Life.
J 942.085 (Diana) Lab. Labrecque, Ellen. Who was Princess Diana?
