These are books about princesses, that have princesses as main characters, or feature young girls who want to be princesses.
Classic Princess Stories
These aren’t fairy tales, but they are vintage children’s books that read like fairy tales.
The 13 Clocks (1950)
An evil duke holds his princess niece captive in a castle and has frozen all of the clocks at just five minutes before five o’clock. A prince who wants to rescue to the princess must perform a series of seemingly impossible tasks, including getting the clocks to work again. By James Thurber.
The Enchanted Forest (1856, 1974)
A fairy tale type story about a princess and her magical adventures. Originally written in French. By La Comtesse de Segur. Translated to English by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, who also make some alterations to the story.
The Light Princess (1864)
From birth, a young princess is literally incapable of keeping her own feet on the ground. If people didn’t help her and keep her tied down, she would simply float away! Is there any way to cure her of her lack of gravity? By George MacDonald.
The Lost Princess (1875)
A morality fairy tale. A princess and a shepherd girl, coincidentally born on the same day, are both horribly spoiled by their parents. A wise woman intervenes, taking them from their parents and trying to change their ways. The princess learns to change, but the shepherd girl remains spoiled. The shepherd girl’s parents are punished by being forced to deal with the problem they’ve created, stuck with their spoiled, selfish daughter. The king and queen turn out to be so superficial that they can’t recognize their own daughter when she returns to them, and they are punished with blindness until they change their ways, cared for by the daughter they refused to recognize. By George MacDonald.
The Princess and the Goblin (1872)
A young princess, while exploring a hidden part of the castle where she lives, discovers a room occupied by a mysterious woman who only the princess can see, possibly the spirit of her great-grandmother. The things she tells the princess and the princess’s new friendship with a young boy who is a miner help to save her from the goblins, who have evil intentions toward her and her kingdom. By George MacDonald.
The Princess and Curdie (1883)
The sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. By George MacDonald.
Unconventional Princesses
These are fairy-tale style princesses who do things that are out of the ordinary for fairy-tale style princesses. These are among the most well-liked kinds of princess stories, especially by parents who worry about giving their girls stories about helpless damsels-in-distress or dread books about the sparkly, pink, dress-obsessed style of princess that inevitably lead to buying lots of sparkly, pink accessories (which aren’t cheap) for their daughters (who, typically, will be rabid fans of such things until they reach the age when they start thinking of them as “little girl” things and want nothing more to do with them, growing more disdainful of insipid pink books as they grow up and dreading their future daughter’s interest in them, thus continuing the cycle). Unconventional princess stories are not only a welcome break from some of the sparkly pinkness, but they tend to have more humor in them than other kinds of princess stories as well. Some of the princesses in other categories can also be considered Unconventional, particularly those in the Story Collections section.
A fairy’s wish at a young princess’s christening ensures that she will be an ordinary, imperfect girl instead of the perfect princess that her parents were expecting, but what others think of as a misfortune turns out to be a blessing. By M. M. Kaye.
When her castle is attacked by a dragon who kidnaps her prince and burns all of her clothes, the princess dons a paper bag and sets out on a rescue mission.
Princess Hyacinth (2009)
Princess Hyacinth isn’t affected by gravity and would just float away if she wasn’t weighted down. She figures out how to deal with her condition with the help of a friend. By Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Lane Smith.
(Note: This is not the same story as The Light Princess.)
The White Dove
When a usurper takes the throne of the kingdom in a fictional country, its former princess, Tasha, becomes a political prisoner. She joins with other dissidents in a game of political intrigue to take back the country for its people. By Lois Thompson Bartholomew.
Series
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
This young adult series about Princess Cimorene, who becomes the Queen of the Enchanted Forest, parodies many popular fairy tales. 1985-1993.
In the far distant future, humans have evolved to the point that the things they imagine can change the nature of reality itself. Princess Lenora in particular has the power to change the world around her and very little restraint in doing so. By Carol Matas and Perry Nodelman. 1994-1999.
Princesses Learn Lessons
No, not just tea party etiquette, but the kind of real-life lessons about responsibility and getting along with others that other girls need to learn, too.
The Mask of the Dancing Princess (1989)
A spoiled, selfish princess ends up living with a group of traveling gypsies for a time. Because the gypsies expect her to live like they do, working and performing, during her time with them, the princess learns the values of hard work, responsibility, and thinking about other people, skills that she will need to be a good ruler. By Judith Gwyn Brown.
A spoiled little princess learns about friendship and hidden depths and finds her own inner beauty when she is sent to live with a family of commoners for a time.
Series
Alissa, Princess of Arcadia Series
Alissa is a princess in a fictional kingdom called Arcadia. Her mentor is a wizard.
A set of sisters are princesses who must each rule their own kingdom, using their special identifying jewel and special power. By Jahnna N. Malcolm. 1997-1999.
Ordinary Girl Wants to Be a Princess
Basically, the attraction of princess stories is that many little girls really wish they were princesses, or at least, could be treated as if they were. On the surface, it sounds idyllic: you can wear fancy clothes and live in a castle and attend parties and have servants to do all of your chores for you, etc. But, wanting to be a princess and actually becoming one are two different things, and there may be reasons why you wouldn’t want to go through with it.
Princess Academy (2005)
A mountain community is surprised when they are told that the priests of their country have determined that the girl who will marry their prince will come from their community. The identity of this girl is not yet known, but all of the girls between 12 and 18 years old must attend a special academy for a year to educate them in the way a princess must be educated. Then, the prince will choose his future bride from these girls. During the course of the year, the girls learn many lessons, learn more about each other, make friends and have rivalries, and come to a better understanding of their options in life, what they can do, and what they really want. By Shannon Hale.
The Princess of the Fillmore Street School
Desiree, who has always been a bit prissy, tells Olivia that she has decided that she wants to be princess of their school. She plans to prove that she is a perfect princess by trying to make the school and the other kids perfect. You can guess how well they receive her attempts to perfect them. Can anything stop the princess of Fillmore Street School before she drives everyone crazy? Part of the Olivia Sharp, Agent for Secrets series.
Ordinary Girl Becomes a Princess
The fulfillment of so many girls’ wishes! Actual results may vary.
The King’s Equal (1992)
A selfish prince learns a lesson in humility when he searches for perfect princess to marry so that he can inherit his father’s crown. By Katherine Paterson.
A girl falls asleep on her school bus and has a fantastic dream, only it turns out to be more than just a dream. Jennifer learns that she has been adopted by a king only to be used as tribute to an evil enchantress. She struggles to find the key to breaking the enchantress’s spells and saving not only herself but the six princesses who went before her. By Nick Sullivan.
Historical Fiction
Historically, princesses were often the daughters of battle-scarred kings and the subjects (and sometimes instigators) of Machiavellian court intrigue. It’s not about the tea parties, dresses, and dream weddings, girl. It’s about power, alliances, and the ability to rule. Some of the princesses in these stories (there will be more later) are real-life princess while others are fictional characters, modeled on the lives of princesses in the past, with imagined adventures.
A servant boy has to help his master solve the frightening mystery of a ghost that haunts a young princess amid political intrigue in Medieval Italy. The princess is surprisingly tough and a bit of a schemer, but you’ve got to be to not only survive but rule. By Avi.
Fairy Tales and Folk Tales
Traditional fairy tales and folk tales about princesses and queens.
Cinderella (1954)
A retelling of the traditional fairy tale of Cinderella. Translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown.
The Egyptian Cinderella (1989)
A variant of the Cinderella story where a young slave girl in Ancient Egypt marries the Pharaoh. By Shirley Climo, illustrated by Ruth Heller.
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters (1987)
Mufaro has two beautiful daughters, but only one with the kindness and humility to be the queen. Based on an African folktale.
Papa Gatto (1995)
Papa Gatto, a wise cat in a fairy tale Italy, needs help to care for his young kittens. When he finds a worthy girl who gives the kittens the love and care they need, he rewards her well, saving her from her wicked stepmother and spoiled stepsister.
Princess Furball (1989)
Confronted by a wedding that she doesn’t want, a princess asks for four seemingly-impossible gifts and uses them to run away and seek a better destiny. By Charlotte Huck and illustrated by Anita Lobel.
Rapunzel (1997)
A retelling of a classic fairy tale, a girl with long hair is kept hidden in a tower until a prince finds her. By Paul O. Zelinsky.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses (1990)
Twelve princesses’ shoes are mysteriously worn through every morning even though they are locked in their room every night. Retold and illustrated by Ruth Sanderson.
Variations on Classic or Fairy Tale Princesses
Series
Elaborations and expansions on classic fairy tales. By Gail Carson Levine. 1999-2002.
Story Collections
Some of these story collections are only about princesses, and some of them have different types of stories in them, but I included them because they had an interesting story or two about princesses.
Book of Enchantments (1996)
This is a collection of short fantasy stories, some of them based on other writings and series by the same author. By Patricia C. Wrede.
A collection of fairy tale style stories with intelligent and brave heroines. By Jay Williams.
Princess Tales (1971)
A collection of princess stories by various authors, including retellings of some classic fairy tales. Edited by Nora Kramer, illustrated by Barbara Cooney.
A collection of fantasy stories by different authors. There are princesses in a few of them, notably The Princess Who Kicked Butt by Will Shetterly. These aren’t stories for young children, though.
Series
A series of collections of classic fairy tales. By Andrew Lang. 1889-1910.
Nonfiction
These are nonfiction books about real princesses and queens. They’re not all fluffy stories because these were real people who achieved and held onto power in difficult circumstances and among people would be willing to kill for that kind of power.
Cleopatra: Queen of the Kings (1998)
A picture book biography of Cleopatra, one of the most famous rulers of Egypt. By Fiona MacDonald, illustrated by Chris Molan.
Resources
More sites that talk about princess-themed books. A lot of them have to do with Unconventional Princesses because, aside from the little girls who really love them, very few people are into sparkly pink princess books.
Not Your Typical Princess Book
As I said, a lot of parents get tired of sparkly pink princess stories. This is a list of alternatives.
Positive Princess Books For Kids
Princess stories with positive messages. From No Time for Flash Cards.
Six Princess Books for Parents Who Really, Really Hate Princess Books
As described in the title.
The Ultimate Guide to the Independent Princess
More books about princesses who aren’t just damsels-in-distress.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 