A Little Princess

By: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Narrated by: Johanna Ward

Sara Crewe is the brightest, richest, and most generous girl in Miss Minchin’s school for girls, and her father gives her everything she might desire. But when her beloved father dies, Sara’s friends and prized possessions are suddenly taken away, and she is banished to the attic and forced to work as a common drudge. Fed only crumbs, she still saves enough to feed her pet rat, and she tells wonderful stories to comfort Becky, the kitchen maid. Using her special ability to play make-believe, she transforms her hardships into an unforgettable adventure. And soon, even her wildest wishes begin to come true, as her real identity is revealed once and for all.

This touching classic has been a favorite with generations of children and adults who have delighted in Sara’s happiness, wept over her sorrows, and perhaps shared her need: to be recognized as someone unique and special.

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849 -1924) was an English-born author of romances and books for children. After moving to America in 1865, she established a popular reputation with the publication of That Lass o’ Lowrie’s in 1877. She is best known for such novels as Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.

Public Domain (P)1993 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A beautiful tale of courage against adversity.” (Guardian, London)

“Johanna Ward...gives a smooth, thoughtful reading and interprets the characters with ease. This is a delightful audio production of Burnett’s classic.” (AudioFile)

“What little girl would not be delighted to discover that a beloved adult believes she shares Sara Crewe’s wonderful imagination, wit, and courage when she receives... A Little Princess?” (Booklinks)

Delightful!!!!

I could not put it down and it made me so happy!! This book is a wonderful antidote for sadness.

Poor Recording

Loved the story and the performance, but the recording has an echo on it and it’s quite distracting 😞 I hope they fix this!

night goddess

wonderful book will listen to it over and over again. I love it very much

Beautiful

I had only ever seen the movie. The book is a masterpiece! So much detail that they are scarcely the same story.

Perfect narration for a wonderful story

I listened to this with my 8 and 9 year old sons. They and I absolutely loved it. It’s a precious, heart-warming, emotional roller coaster of a story. They kept asking to listen to it constantly, and now that we’re done, my 8yo insists that we simply start over at the beginning right away. In short, we loved it.

Sweet story. Great narration.

I love these old fashioned stories of poor girls who are rewarded for virtue! Very Victorian.

one of my very very favorite books

love this story so much, great fable that teaches selflessness, creativity, and individual worth. 100% reread again and again. performance isn't exactly how I picture the story in my head but I'm bias because I read this book without audio growing up. classic and beautiful and heart warming

Great book. Excellent narration.

Listened in lieu of re-reading. Despite some problematic aspects regarding the British colonization of India and some outdated characterizations of Indian servants, as well as dated concepts of gender, this is a charming story that I still very much enjoy. It's well written, and the narration is very good. The narrator has a pleasant regular narrating voice and excellent character voices. The only criticism I can make is that there are places where the emphasis in a sentence sounds clumsy, probably due to reaching the end of a line and treating it like the end of the sentence only to realize there's more. However, it's far less noticeable than many of the audiobooks I've listened to. Also, this is such a common problem with audiobooks that I rarely take off points for it anymore. Overall, a very pleasant listen.

Sad

This is such a sad book and it’s a really good story and it was fun to see how much the movie was different from the book. I recommend it five out of five.

Between spiritual and bourgeois dream

I bought this book for my 8 year old daughter who is all in princess’s phantasies, to learn some more English. For this purpose the Little Princess is excellent, because it’s language is reach, but kind of easy to follow, since the story is interesting, the characters well developed, scenes so richly but not excessively described and chapters not to long.
Her writing reminded me of Charles Dickens stories which I devoured so eagerly when I was a little older than my daughter is now... But on the other hand I don’t like this double moral standards and a hidden message than happiness is only permanent in lordly possessions....
All in all I believe it is a nice book for an 8 yer old princess ;)