Happily ever after?Not if she can help it.
Welcome to Princess Smartypants, Princes & Twisted Fairytales — where princesses make the rules, princes get thoroughly confused and nobody behaves quite as expected.
No glass slippers. No waiting to be rescued. Absolutely no ordinary fairytales.
Once upon a time, a princess said no.
And a whole new kind of fairytale began. Babette Cole turned traditional stories on their heads with fearless heroines, ridiculous royalty and gloriously mischievous humour. Her characters were never going to sit politely and wait for their happy ending.
The Princess Smartypants
collection
Motorbikes, dragons, disappearing princes and very badly behaved magic. Meet the princess who never needed a Prince Charming.
Princess Smartypants
The princess who refused to play along
A castle, a menagerie of extraordinary pets, a queue of hopeless suitors — and a princess with absolutely no intention of getting married.
Long Live Princess Smartypants
Royal life gets even more complicated
Smartypants has decided she wants a baby, but not a husband. Naturally, nothing goes quite according to plan.
Princess Smartypants Breaks ALL the Rules!
Finishing school has met its match
Send her to finishing school? Lock her in the dungeon? You really should know better by now.
Princess Smartypants and the Missing Princes
A royal mystery in Totaloonia
Three princes vanish before an engagement party. Fortunately, the kingdom has a very capable detective.
Princess Smartypants and the Fairy Geek Mothers
When magic goes online
Fairy godmothers have been replaced by websites selling wishes. What could possibly go wrong?
Who says a princess needs saving?
Not Smartypants. Babette's original illustrations bring every magical disaster, hopeless suitor and deliciously rebellious idea to life.
Two stories.
Two commendations.
Babette Cole received consecutive Kate Greenaway Medal commendations from The Library Association, recognising the distinguished illustrations in two of her best-loved, wonderfully unconventional fairytales.
Princes, misfits &
other magical trouble
From jungle heroines to hopeless princes, Babette's other worlds are just as wild, witty and magnificently upside down.
Tarzanna
A jungle heroine with a mission
An utterly fearless jungle girl, hungry zoo animals and one very unexpected city adventure.
King Change-a-lot
Small prince. Enormous plans.
A baby prince, a genie and a kingdom that could do with some rather serious changes.
Prince Cinders
Cinderella. But not as you know it.
Three big hairy brothers, a disastrous fairy godmother and a prince who leaves his trousers behind.
James Rabbit and the Giggleberries
A fairytale from the wild Westcountry
A hardworking rabbit, hungry baby bunnies and a mysterious crop that makes the whole countryside giggle.
Cupid
Love at first arrow
A mischievous god comes down to Earth and discovers that love is very easy to start — and much harder to control.
A little magic.
A lot of mayhem.
In Babette's fairytales, Cinderella becomes Prince Cinders, the wrong people get the magic and nothing — least of all true love — runs to plan.
Not all adventures happen in castles.
Sometimes the heroine lives in the jungle. Sometimes the hero is a rabbit. And sometimes the smallest member of the royal family has the biggest ideas of all.
One thing never changes: Babette Cole's unforgettable combination of mischief, imagination and beautifully detailed original illustration.
Happily ever after.On their own terms.
From rebellious princesses to ridiculous princes, these are the fairytales that dare to do things differently. Pick a book, step into its world and expect the unexpected.
Explore the Princess Smartypants books ↑ Stories and original illustrations by Babette Cole