Rating: 
Summary: All's Well that Ends Well
Review: It is a sweet little book ~~ with a great story to tell. It is about a little girl who is sent to a boarding school in London. She leaves her father and a beloved life in India behind ~~ but endowed with lots of riches, fancy clothes, a beautiful doll and more importantly, with the love of her father. Unspoiled though, Sara comes to London determined to get a good education. And this is just the beginning of the story.With tragic events that spun out of control, Sara finds herself a penniless orphan one day and at the mercy of her headmistress, she stays ~~ but as an errand girl. With the grace of her imagination, Sara survives. It is a beautifully-written tale of love and adventure and one little girl's imagination that keeps her entertained and helps her survive poverty ~~ she makes proverty an adventure as she's aware always that there is someone worse off than her. It is a story for both little boys and girls ~~ moms and dads to read as well. It provides a moral structure but it isn't preachy. It's just a lovely tale of a little girl who really knows what treasure of the heart is. 1-8-04
Rating:
Summary: "Every girl everywhere is a princess"
Review: This 1995 movie is based on the classic novel by Frances Burnett, which explores the life of a young girl in the WWI era. In the beginning of the movie, we see Sara as she lives out life in exoctic India. Then her devoted father must leave to join the war. Since her mother is no longer living, he enrols her in an expensive boarding school in New York City. As soon as she arrives one can tell she is not a match for the strict boarding school regimen. The movie continues from there, with Sara's friendlyness & kindness helping her to overcome the difficult times that lie ahead. The actress that portrays Sara, Liesel Matthews, does a remarkable job of storytelling and brings a certain 'magic' to the movie. There have actually been 3 other versions done on film, including one in 1939 starring Shirley Temple. As much as I enjoyed that one, I think this version is the best of the lot.
Rating: 
Summary: There's a better version, true to the book
Review: While this version of A Little Princess is not necessarily bad, the producers took so many liberties with Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel that people who've read the book may be unable to watch it. The boarding school is in London, not New York, for example, and the addition of songs and fuzzily filmed dancing detracts. If you want the accurate and entertaining version, go for the WonderWorks A Little Princess with Amelia Shankley, Maureen Lipman, Miriam Margolys, and Nigel Havers. I hope you need not be warned away from the Shirley Temple version.
Rating: 
Summary: The Little Princess
Review: The Little Princess
By: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Reviewed by: G. Lee
Period: 2 This book is about a little girl named, Sara Crewe. She was a very rich little girl and also bratty too. The father was famous because he was a Captain and he set off for a trip and he sends Sara to a school where she can be learning and studying. when she was sent to the school she fixes up her attitude and turns very nice and caring to one another and to the other girls in the school. During his journey he had a surprise death on Sara's eleventh birthday. She soon became poor and had to live in the attic of the school. Now, Miss Minchin, the woman that took care of her, treated her really badly. She also took Sara's riches, but she didnt know it belonged to Sara. The father's friend thought he lost their riches but Sara was just next door to where the father's friend lived. The father's friend soon founded out that Sara was there. Sara had a choice to go with the father's friend or Miss Minchin, of course Sara was smart enouh to pick the father's friend. All those days when she was stuck in the attic made her become ery helpful to the poor, so now she gave food to the poor. I liked this book because she used to be very bratty and mean to peoples and ever since she lived in the attic of the school she became helpful to the poor. I also liked this book because it also became a movie. The movie was a little different but it was still reasonable to the book. i also liked this book for being a fairy tale like story. This book also had many graphics to help me know whats going on sometimes. I didnt like this book a little because of the death of the father. Ever since the father died Sara ot treated very badly from Miss Minchin and i dont like people being treated badly, especially when they dont deserve to be treated like that way. Plus, i dont like how Miss minchin lied to the father's friend about treating Sara like she was treated very well and how she was supposed to have been treated. Everybody should show every other person all the respect or loyalty to all peoples, for example to rich or even poor people they should be treated well equaly. My favorite part of this book is when the father's friend finally found Sara. I was very surprised that he just lived right next to the school and didn't know that Sara had been stayin there for all this time. I was also glad when Sara picked to live with the father's friend and not the evil Miss Minchin. plus, i also liked when Sara was treating the poor well and giin them food and charity appliances, that was very nice and helpful. Lastly, I liked how she always believed in herself een though she had a bad time she always was succesful somehow and accomplished what she had to do to stay alive and wealthy.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful story
Review: I first read this book when I was ten years old. I still remember being transported from my Boise, Idaho sunroom, circa summer vacation 1976, back to the foggy gaslit streets of Victorian London. I don't believe that I moved off that sunroom couch until I had devoured this entire book. I loved the whole idea of A Little Princess -- the beautiful clothes (watered silk and petticoats!), the food (gruel!), and Sara's suffering in the garrett. Sara's life was so different from mine. Reading this book was like travelling to a different continent. In some ways, this is a formula book for girls -- although it might be fair to say that this book invented the formula: plucky, mistreated orphan (mysteriously stripped of her fortune), who never loses hope and remains truly good transformed through a mysterious benefactor into a girl rich beyond her wildest dreams (see also: the Boxcar Children; Little Orphan Annie, etc). Sara is an extremely engaging character. She is almost too good to be true -- kind to the servants, smarter than the headmistress, and able to tell stories that ensnare her listeners. Sara's stories enable her, first to make friends, and then later, to cope with the rather significant blows that life (and the author) deal her. And, in the best of tradition of this type of story, Sara is rescued, her wealth is restored, she remains a perfectly lovely little girl, and the horrible headmistress who mistreated her gets her comeuppance. All is right with the world once again.
Rating:
Summary: Every girl dreams of being a princess!
Review: If you remember seeing Shirley Temple in the 1939 "The Little Princess," this is the same basic plot with a wonderful new twist. The story is based on the beloved classic by the same author of The Secret Garden. The movie opens with some stunningly beautiful scenes from India and all too suddenly Sara Crewe must leave with her father who is being called away for military duties. Sara has to go live in a New York boarding school. Through her experiences she learns to survive in the world and takes each day as it comes. Her vivid imagination is a pure delight and when she tells her magical stories, they are played out in a fairy tale like way onscreen. This contrasts with her real life at the school. Sara's fun-loving spirit does get her into trouble from time to time. Overall, she is just used to living with her father and being free to do mostly what she likes. In her new school she has to follow many rules. She draws strength from her father's words to help her believe in herself. He tells her that she will always be his little princess. A wonderful movie which shows that if we make the best of our circumstances, we will be blessed in the end. Five stars for storytelling magic!
Rating:
Summary: A Little Princess
Review: I've never read the book, but I really enjoyed the movie. I've loved this movie since the first time I saw it when I was a little girl. Now that I have my own little girl, I want to show her this movie when she gets a little older. I think it's a good movie to show to your children.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice movie, too bad about the ending
Review: This was one of my favourite books when I was a little girl. The movie is well done, but I was disappointed at the "Hollywood ending" that replaced the original ending of the book; it's unnecessary and it doesn't ring true. In the book, although Sara is adopted by the wealthy man next door, who turns out to be her father's business partner and who restores her fortune, her father doesn't return. She becomes comfortable and secure again, and her efforts to be good and brave during hard times have made her a better person, but things will never be as they were before. To pretty this up with a dramatic last-minute reappearance, as was done in this film, is an injustice both to the book and to the audience; the best children's books don't avoid the question of irretrievable loss, but face it squarely and so help young readers to learn that although great losses will occur, we can survive them. Sara's father doesn't return; Beth March dies; Sykes kills Nancy; these leave us saddened but not destroyed. Too bad that this film ditched this sombre but true ending for an over-dramatised, all-but-incredible, sugar-plum ending; it's a good film, but it could have been a great one.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Beautiful Astounding
Review: Let's just say it right now: This is one of the best children's movies ever made. It didn't do well at the box office, but that has nothing to do with its quality, which is spectacular. Sara is a rich girl who lives in India with her father. Her mother was dead. As her father is called to Europe for World War One, Sara is sent to a prestigious boarding school in New York City. She quickly becomes a favorite among the students, who love her mystical tales. One person, the headmistress Miss Minchin, is not as pleased with Sara's imaginative stories. When news comes that her father died in war, Miss Minchin takes everything of Sara's and makes her a servant in the school. She befriends Becky, the other servant, and it's her imagination that keeps her going. This movie has many beautiful moments. When Sara recieves the news of her father's death, the look on her face is devestating. When she is in trouble for having the other girls in her attic room, she confronts Miss Minchin, and hits a nerve when she asks about Miss Minchin's father. After Sara is locked away, Miss Minchin wipes away a tear, and we see that her father never loved her. It's nice that a villain has more than one layer for a change. When Sara dances in the snow, I think that's one of the most beautiful moments in the movie. And finally, when her father gets his memory back and they hug in the rain. That amazing scene pretty much tells you what the movie is about. It's about imagination, love, and never stopping believing that magical things can happen. This is a movie every family should have. In a word: Perfect.
Rating:
Summary: Very good adaption
Review: "A Little Princess" is a fine film for both adults and children. It is visually stunning, for a start, and its music and lighting create many magical images. The plot hews quite closely to the classic F.H. Burnett novel, in which young Sarah Crewe is left at a New York boarding school while her father goes off to World War I. The school is run by the hard-nosed Miss Minchin (expertly played by Eleanor Bron), who, upon learning that Sarah's father is presumed dead, turns Sarah into an impoverished servant. Like most of Burnett's great stories, this one pits one optimistic, winning child against the overwhelming odds of a harsh world. Sarah's ability to bring joy to the other girls she meets builds her a powerful support network, and in the end her triumph is tremendously moving. The film is forced to rely on the acting abilities of many small girls, but they all do their best and overall are engaging. As I say, the cinematography is first rate, and, having seen this film three times, I find I am always glad to have watched it.
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