A Little Princess
A Little Princess is a children’s classic written by Francis Hudgson Burnett and is one of my favorite stories from my childhood. In this project, I re-branded this children’s novel as a middle-grade literary fiction. I acted as a line editor, developmental editor, and designer to re-package this novel to appeal to middle-grade readers.
Note: This is a simulated publishing project
Line Editing
Burnett is a master at disguising the complex in seemingly simple words. A Little Princess is a deliciously complex novel. When it was published over a hundred years ago, the language mimicked popular usage from the time period. To appeal to modern day middle-grade readers, I updated the language and usage. I changed past perfect verbiage into simple past and simple present, so that readers would feel the story more imminently and be more connected to our protagonist. Click here for a sample edit
Developmental Editing
What makes this book a childhood classic and one that endures in memory, is Sara’s, our protagonist, strength and resilience. She creates hope for those around her and refuses to give up on her imagination. These are qualities that middle-grade reads can relate to. Since A Little Princess was originally written as a children’s novel, aside from the protagonist, the cast of characters around Sara don’t see the same level of development or depth. In a query letter to the author, I wrote suggestions for giving depth to supporting characters such as Ermangarde and Lottie. Click here to read full memo.
Book Design
While designing the cover of this novel, I decided on an image of a street in London for the background. The romanticism of the setting in London is one of the appeals of this story. To attract the interest of middle-grade readers, I applied filters and photo manipulation features on the image so that it appeared more like an illustration. I add magenta overtone and contrasting purple undertones to give a more Gothic, 18th century London feel. These colors were selected because they express a sense of grandeur and royalty that middle-grade readers might recognize. See below for deconstruction.
Deconstruction
This cover was designed with female, middle-grade readers in mind. In my research, I made the following observations about covers that attracted middle-grade readers: the exterior is artful with plentiful colors; realistic images seemed acceptable but the ones with sketched illustrations or a cartoony feel were more popular; and the fonts were front and center, usually across the top of cover so that it does not obstruct the image below it. These observations are the principles that guided my book cover design.
Typography
Cover Copy
The year is 1905, and little Miss Sara Crewe, daughter of handsomely rich Captain Crewe, leaves her home in India to join Miss Minchin’s Seminary for Young Ladies in the foggy city of London. Miss Minchin is a dull and respectable headmistress who has other plans for Sara. It’s not long before the other girls become fascinated by Sara, and although Lavinia would like the others to believe Sara is a little princess for her fancy dresses and beautiful, lifelike doll, Emily—there’s just something magical about Sara and the stories she brings with her.
Tragedy strikes when her father dies, leaving Sara penniless and at the mercy of Miss Minchin to whom she now owes a large debt to. Sara is banished to the attic to live as maid and is forced to severe chores everyday. Is her vivid imagination enough to keep her hope alive? Is she still a princess if she’s dressed in rags?