This story is about an unconventional princess who doesn’t want to get married. She likes to spend time with her unusual pets and ride her motorbike. When suitors come to marry her she teaches all the princes a lesson by giving them horrible challenges to overcome so they run away. All except one prince who is very clever and passes all the challenges set by princess smartypants. She isn’t amused and teaches him an ultimate lesson. Princess Smartypants kisses the prince and he turns into a frog. A four lesson unit of work based around the book Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole. A read through of this book can be found on YouTube if you don’t have a physical copy. The outcome by the end of a unit is a character description. The unit can be used to introduce adjectives.

Write a set of instructions to teach people how to look after some of Princess Smartypants’ amazing pets. Not only is it funny and cute, it teaches children that no matter what, they don't have to compromise their boundaries and they don't have to conform to society's expectations." (From a 5-star review) I am a Ms. I am not a Mrs, and I like the idea of a story about an independent girl who doesn't want to be a Mrs, and is happy to be a Ms. But this story missed the mark. The princess comes across as deceitful, game-playing, dishonest and arrogant: more Princess Pants-on-Fire than Princess Smartypants. I loved this book as it is about a princess that unlike many girls is not bothered about her title, fame or fortune. This princess doesn't want to be a queen: She likes her motorcycle, her dragon friends, and her independence! In this feminist reworking of a classic fairy-tale theme, Princess Smartypants defies her parents' wishes, outwits her suitors, and remains a content and single young lady. The text and illustrations are full of humour.Steinem then goes on to make a great job of turning Sigmund Freud into Phyllis Freud, with all of the misogynistic and historically dangerous ideas reversed, in a world where women hold the power instead of men; where the uterus is revered rather than the phallus. STORY STRUCTURE OF PRINCESS SMARTYPANTS Types of Archetypal Journeys This book seems to be telling girls that they would be better off without a husband and family. Definitely not the message I want to share with my little girls." (From a 1-star review). I’m no huge fan of Brave. I do know a few little girls who love it to bits, mainly because of the archery. But there’s something not quite right about the story arc, and I feel it’s a bit cheap to play the princes for laughs. Princess Smartypants is rebellious, independent, and very happy being single - but her parents want her to get married and settle down! This hilarious picture book has a subversive protagonist and a strong message about choosing your own destiny. Most of all, we have a lot of fun. And when we’re done with Princess Smartypants, we move on to Prince Cinders, a pretty weedy-looking royal specimen.

Princess Smartypants does not want to get married because she likes being a Ms. She wants to live her own life. Her parents want her to get married. She outwits her suitors and lives happily ever after because she doesn't get married. Reversals] create empathy and are great detectors of bias, in ourselves as well as in others, for they expose injustices that seem normal and so are invisible. In fact, the deeper and less visible the bias, the more helpful it is to take some commonly accepted notion about one race, class, ethnicity, ability — whatever — and see how it sounds when transferred to another. […] To uncover the difference between what is and what could be, we may need the “Aha!” that comes from exchanging subject for object, the flash of recognition that starts with the smile, the moment of changed viewpoint that turns the world upside down.Lesson 4 - Use vocabulary built over the week to write a character description, focusing on choosing interesting adjectives to create expanded noun phrases. This book oozes personality and with so much going on it promises to maintain the attention of young readers for hours at a time This [narrative] isn’t just saying that women don’t have to marry, it’s saying that women can humiliate men, force them to work, then don’t marry them. In fact, Princess Smartypants can only live happily ever after when she has rid herself of essentially all men (who are, needless to say, intimidated by her transfiguring osculations). Just like all women! We females can only be free once men have become the toads they are at heart! The possibilities for activities are endless with this fabulous piece of fiction. I love hearing pupils’ ideas for how the princes could complete their crazy tasks - suggestions have included hiring a helicopter to feed the pets and drinking an energy drink before the roller disco. We also create freeze-frames of scenes from the story, take photos and write captions to go with them. I start off by displaying the image from the book’s front cover with all the text removed. Who is this person on a motorbike in biker clothes, I ask? What does she do? Sometimes a pupil will notice the tiny crown balanced precariously on her head, sometimes no one will.

From the lowbrow names of "Prince Pelvis, Swimbladder, Boneshaker, Grovel etc. and the overall disrespectful, non-familial attitudes to the man-hating, lying, deal breaking princess this book was feminist rubbish from top to bottom." (From a 1-star review) There are some lessons that you just can’t help repeating year after year; the reaction you receive from each class is so different and interesting that it makes you pull the old favourite out again and again. My must-do lesson focuses on Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole. We believe that books are a great way to raise awareness and improve understanding of different experiences. This booklist aims to provide a range of children's and teens' books that feature characters who are on the autistic spectrum or have Asperger’s Syndrome. Four complete English units of work designed for Year 1 but easily adaptable for Reception or Year 2. Includes lesson powerpoints, differentiated resources and planning documents. Babette Cole subverts the reader’s expectation that the prince and princess will end up married. These days it doesn’t seem such a radical story at all, but that’s only because we’ve seen it before.Princess Smartypants” is probably one of Babette Cole’s greatest books ever created. This book is a creative story about a princess who just wanted to do the activities that she enjoys doing despite what her parents say. Also, Princess Smartypants is one of the few heroines who have lots of spunk and independence deep within themselves. “Princess Smartypants” is a perfect book for both kids and adults who enjoy messages about independence and confidence. Lesson 2 - Introduce adjectives. Use ‘role on the wall’ to build vocabulary to describe the main character - focus on appearance. Choose one of the challenges that a prince was set. Write about it in more detail to explain what happened to the prince. What I liked about this story is that it was very unique and not conventional. It depicts a princess in a manner that is not common in pupils’ eyes. When children think of a princess they like to think about someone beautiful and graceful and kind, this princess is none of those things. Babette Cole has been very creative in using humour in this story, e.g. the names of the princes and the name of the princess. Princess Smartypants is an example of a children’s picture book which uses gender reversal to tell a story that would never really happen. What if women of high socio-economic status could choose their own marriage/non-marriage partners? The ending plays into the stereotypically MRA fear — if women were allowed autonomy they may choose not to include men at all.