Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck

Genre: Fairy Tale/Picture Book
Age range: 4-8
Summary: Nothing in this book is considered offensive to younger readers/listeners. A new spin on an old tale. Princess Furball is a different sort of Cinderella. She is a princess whose father has betrothed her to a hideous ogre in exchange for five wagons full of silver. The princess conjures a plan and makes qualifications that must be made in order for this exchange to take place. She requests three dresses--one as bright as the sun, one as bright as the moon, one as bright as the stars--and a fur coat made from one thousand different animals. Thinking that these requests were impossible, the princess feels secure that she will not have to marry the ugly ogre. Surprisingly, her father pulls it off, and the wedding is to take place. So in the dead of night, the princess packs up her things--dress and coat and special cooking spice included--and takes off for anywhere but there. Eventually, she grows tired and decides to rest in a hollow tree. It is while she is sleeping that the  king from the neighboring kingdom finds her wrapped in her fur coat. The hunters believe she is some sort of strange animal and take her back with them to be a servant to the servants. She lives like this for quite some time until the king decides to hold a ball. She remembers the dresses that she has brought with her and asks the cook (her boss) if she can go just to watch the guests arrive and then she will be right back. The cook obliges and she quickly changes into one of her beautiful dresses and attends the ball. The king notices her right off and they dance and talk and he begins to be smitten with her, but after thirty minutes has past she must get back to the kitchen. That night, the cook wants to get home early and tell the princess to make the king his soup. She does and includes her special cooking spice and her mother's ring. The king loves it and demands she come see him. He inquires about the ring to her, but she says nothing. This happens twice more, before the prince catches her for while they were dancing at the third ball he slipped the golden ring onto her finger and she had forgotten to take it off. She told the king her story, and he loved her evermore. This story encourages girls to be just as clever as they are beautiful so that they can find the king they are meant to be with forever.