Paper Princess

ooh, did we ever love this book... My daughter wanted it for every nap and bedtime once it hit our door. I had a difficult time even getting to read our other library books for this week. The Paper Princess goes extremely well with another favorite book - Soul Mate Dolls. If you have a daughter who will immediately want to make a paper doll after you've finished reading The Paper Princess, get Soul Mate Dolls as well. This story is so good I feel a strong urge to buy every one of Elisa Kleven's other books, sight unseen (I might, in fact, since we also checked out The Lion and the Little Red Bird in the same week and that one is extraordinary as well). Elisa Kleven is an imaginative, talented, and supremely warm author & illustrator. BUY this one!

The text is pure magic and the pictures are pure poetry. Or: the story is poetic and the pictures are magic. Or: the story is colorful and the pictures are resonant. Or: ... oh, just buy it and enjoy it.

I'm so glad we found this book! I have two daughters (3 1/2 and 6) and both love it. The story of a paper doll that flies away from the little girl who creates it is sweet and simple. But it's the illustrations--extremely detailed matisse-like collages--that are most compelling. I think every time we read this book (and that's often) we discover something new in the pictures. We linger over each spread and even play "I Spy," pointing out little details to each other. The ending is very satisfying and there's no lesson or preachiness. It's just a story about love, and caring for someone, and the joy of having that love returned. Also, it is often confused with the Paper Bag Princess, which although a good story, couldn't be more opposite in tone or presentation (we like paper princess better).

This book is a story of a little girl who cuts out a paper doll (a princess), and the adventures of the princess. The drawings are beautiful. They are colorful and very detailed. More than having beautiful pictures, the story behind the pictures is very sweet and imaginative. This is a must-have for our home library.

This story has a personal impact on our family. Our daughter has alopecia (a condition causing hairloss and no regrowth) This story is the tale of a paper doll's search for hair and her ultimate discovery of herself. It was a wonderful story for us to share with our daughter and others. I have recommended it to many other parents of young children with alopecia.Although, I am sure Ms. Klevin did not mean for this story to have an impact on children with alopecia - it sure did and still does.