The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke

Translated by Anthea Bell. Illustrated by Kerstin Meyer. 32 p., Scholastic/Chicken House, 2001.

Restrictive cultural ideas can't keep a princess down in this story. A widowed king decides to teach his daughter, Violetta, the same things he is teaching her three older brothers - riding, fighting, and arrogance. Violetta is small, and her brothers tease her as she struggles to keep up with them. But she's very determined, and she goes out at night and quietly practices her skills. As a result, when she jousts with her brothers, she's so quick that they can't hit her with their swords. When Violetta is turning 16, the king announces a jousting tournament, with her hand in marriage going to the winner. Deeply offended, Violetta enters the tournament herself as Sir No-Name, and to her father's amazement, she wins. She decides to choose her own prize: "no one will ever win Princess Violetta's hand in marriage without first defeating Sir No-Name." No one ever challenges her again.The illustrations are very expressive of both Violetta's smallness and her toughness. The strength of Violetta's self-determination will be an inspiration to girls.

Ages 5-8

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