Priscilla Hallowell (1908–1998)

This was one of my favorite books as a kid and it still holds up today. I laughed through the entire book. Everyone, except for a certain prince, is so polite. It's lovely and so funny. It's also a nice change from the politics and posturing in so many fairy tales. Felicity is a purely delightful princess and everyone wants her to be happy because she brings so much happiness to them. So when a rude prince insults her appearance, the entire kingdom (including its animals) want to punish him and chaos and hilarity ensues. I also find the king super amusing. His entire job (as seen in the book) is making proclamations (many on behalf of his daughter) that continually go differently than he anticipated. It doesn't really matter though. The people love Felicity so much, they will side with her no matter what proclamation her doting father comes up with. I wish there were more books like this.… (meer)

This is the story I think of when people tell me that stories of strong girls weren't available when I was a kid. This is the ultimate story of a strong young woman who understood when to be kind and when to kick butt. It's the story of an arrogant young man functioning on the assumption that he's obviously better than the princess he's sent to win, and learning that he's not all that. But, luckily, he wises up and gets much better.
The illustrations are wonderful! I wish it were more available so more girls could read it. I can't guess how many times I re-read this as a kid.
(oh yes, she has a long nose, so this could be a book for people who are insecure about their looks, but that seems secondary.)… (meer)