A Little Princess
A Little Princess
A Little Princess
A Little Princess
Stage 1 (400 headwords)
A Little Princess
Retold by
Jennifer Bassett
Illustrated by
Gwen Tou tret
STORY INTRODUCTION 1
1 School in England 1
2 The diamond mines 8
3 The new servant-girl 16
4 Ram Dass and the monkey 22
5 The magic 30
6 Lost and found 37
GLOSSARY 42
activities: Before Reading 44
ACTIVITIES: While Reading 45
activities: After Reading 48
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 52
ABOUT THE BOOKWORMS LIBRARY 53
1
School in England
1
A Little Princess
‘You are very quiet.’ He put his arm round his daughter.
‘I’m thinking about our house in India,’ said Sara.
‘And the hot sun and the blue sky. I don’t think I like
England very much, Father.’
‘Yes, it’s very different from India,’ her father said.
‘But you must go to school in London, and I must go
back to India and work.’
‘Yes, Father, I know,’ said Sara. ‘But I want to be with
you. Please come to school with me! I can help you with
your lessons.’
Mr Crewe smiled, but he was not happy. He loved his
little Sara very much, and he did not want to be without
her. Sara’s mother was dead, and Sara was his only child.
Father and daughter were very good friends.
Soon they arrived at Miss Minchin’s School for Girls
and went into the big house.
Miss Minchin was a tall woman in a black dress. She
looked at Sara, and then gave a very big smile.
‘What a beautiful child!’ she said to Mr Crewe.
Sara stood quietly and watched Miss Minchin. ‘Why
does she say that?’ she thought. ‘I am not beautiful, so
why does she say it?’
Sara was not beautiful, but her father was rich. And
Miss Minchin liked girls with rich fathers, because it was
good for the school (and good for Miss Minchin, too).
‘Sara is a good girl,’ Mr Crewe said to Miss Minchin.
2
Miss Minchin was a tall woman in a black dress.
3
A Little Princess
4
School in England
5
The stories were all about kings and queens and princesses.
6
School in England
Now Sara was important, and Lavinia did not like that.
2
G[he diamond mines
VW
8
The diamond mines
9
A Little Princess
But one day Sara came into her bedroom, and there
was Becky, sleeping in a chair.
‘Oh, you poor thing!’ Sara said.
Then Becky opened her eyes and saw Sara. She got up
at once. ‘Oh, Miss!’ she said. ‘I’m very sorry, Miss! I just
sat down for a minute and—’
‘Don’t be afraid,’ said Sara. She gave Becky a friendly
smile. ‘You were tired. That’s all.’
10
There was Becky, sleeping in a chair.
11
A Little Princess
12
The diamond mines
13
A Little Princess
14
‘She must leave my school at once,’ Miss Minchin said.
16
The new servant-girl
That first night in the attic was very long. Sara did not
sleep. ‘Father is dead,’ she whispered, again and again.
‘Father is dead. I’m never going to see him again.’
The next morning Sara’s new life began. She learnt to
clean floors and to make fires. She ran upstairs and
downstairs, and she worked in the kitchen.
17
A Little Princess
18
‘What are you doing here?’ said Sara.
19
A Little Princess
20
The new servant-girl
But one night, two or three weeks later, Becky came into
Sara’s room. She was very excited.
‘Oooh, Miss!’ she said. ‘An Indian gentleman is
moving into the house next door. Well, he’s English, but
he lived in India for years and years. And now he’s going
to live next door. He’s very rich, and he’s ill. Something
bad happened to him, but I don’t know what.’
Sara laughed. ‘How do you know all this?’ she said.
‘Well, Miss, you know the Carmichael family across
the street?’ Becky said. ‘I’m friendly with their kitchen
girl, and she told me. Mr Carmichael is the Indian
gentleman’s lawyer, so they know all about hint.’
4
$\arn GDass and the monkey
V V V
22
Ram Dass thanked Sara again and again.
23
A Little Princess
Sara went to the shops five or six times a day, and when
she walked past the house next door, she often thought
about the Indian gentleman. She felt sorry for him. He
had no wife or family, and the doctor visited the house
every day. Mr Carmichael the lawyer often visited, too,
and sometimes the Carmichael children went with him.
Sara was pleased about that. ‘It’s nice to see friendly
faces when you are ill,’ she thought.
The Indian gentleman thought that, too. He liked
children very much, but he was a very unhappy man. Mr
Carmichael was his friend, and he talked to him a lot.
But they talked about only one thing.
‘I must find the child,’ said the Indian gentleman (his
name was Mr Carrisford). ‘I must find her and take care
of her. But where is she? Here I am, with all this money
from the diamond mines -and half of it is Ralph Crewe’s
money. Oh, Carmichael, why did I leave my friend and
run away when things looked bad? Why?’
‘You ran away because you were ill with a fever,’ said
Mr Carmichael. ‘It nearly killed you, remember?’
‘And it did kill poor Ralph,’ said Mr Carrisford. ‘He
put all his money into the mines because I was his friend.
But at first we didn’t find any diamonds, and all Ralph’s
money was gone. I was afraid to tell him, so I ran away.
And later, when we did find diamonds, Ralph was dead.’
He laughed, angrily. ‘What a brave friend I was!’
24
‘I must find the child and take care of her. ’
25
A Little Princess
Winter came, with its short, dark days, and the attic
rooms were very cold. There were no fires for servant
girls, and often Sara and Becky could not sleep because
of the cold. Sara was taller now, and her old black dress
was very short. Her shoes were old, and she had no
warm coat for the winter weather. She was thin, too. She
did not get very much to eat, and she was always hungry.
26
Ram Dass and the monkey
27
‘Oh, here’s Princess Sara,’ Lavinia said.
28
Ram Dass and the monkey
brave, so I must be, too. But it’s not easy.’ She put her
head down on her arms. ‘Oh, Father, do you remember
your Little Missus? Can you see me now?’
And in the house next door Mr Carrisford sat by a
warm fire. Moscow is a long way from London, and he
could only wait, but he thought about Ralph Crewe’s
child every day. He thought about other children, too.
‘Ram Dass,’ he said. ‘How is that poor little servant
girl next door? Can we do something for her?’
‘I see her in the street every day,’ said Ram Dass. ‘In
the rain, in the snow. She looks thin and hungry. But
we can help her. I can easily get in through her attic
window. Listen ...’ And he talked for some minutes.
Mr Carrisford smiled. ‘Yes,’ he said to Ram Dass.
‘Yes, I like it. Let’s do it.’
30
The magic
31
A Little Princess
Soon the attics were quiet again. Tired and hungry, the
two servant-girls went to sleep. But after an hour or two
Sara opened her eyes. Was it a noise from the window
perhaps?
‘Something is different,’ Sara whispered. ‘What is it?’
She sat up in bed and looked round the room. She looked
again and again, and her eyes were very big.
The room was different - very different. There was a
wonderful hot fire. There were new, warm blankets on
her bed, and beautiful pictures on the walls.
Sara slowly got out of bed. ‘Is this a dream?’ she said.
‘Where did all these things come from?’ She put out her
hand to the fire. ‘No, it’s not a dream. The fire is hot -1
can feel it. And oh! Look at the table!’
There was a red cloth on the table, and cups and plates.
There was hot tea, and wonderful things to eat - hot
meat pies and sandwiches and cake, oranges and apples.
Sara ran to Becky’s room. ‘Becky,’ she whispered.
‘Come quickly. The magic is here again. Come and look.’
32
The magic
33
A Little Princess
34
‘ Was the magic there this morning?’ Becky whispered.
35
A Little Princess
37
A Little Princess
38
Lost and found
39
‘And all the time I was in the house next door. ’
40
Lost and found
brave not crying or asking for help when you are very unhappy
buy (past tense bought) to give money to get something
clever a clever person can learn, understand, and do things
quickly and well
dream a picture in your head when you are sleeping
fever when you are ill with a very hot head and body, you have
a fever
gentleman a man of good family, often rich
hard difficult; not easy
kind friendly and good to other people
lascar an Indian seaman
lawyer a person who knows about the law
lonely unhappy because you are not with other people
magic when strange, exciting, unusual things happen
next door the nearest house to your house
poor you say ‘poor’ when you feel sad for somebody
princess the daughter of a king or queen
sad not happy
servant a person who works in another person’s house
take care of to be kind to somebody; to give them love, a home,
food, clothes, etc.
unhappy not happy
whisper (v) to speak very, very quietly
42
A Little Princess
ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES
Before Reading
1 Read the back cover and the story introduction on the first
page of the book. How much do you know now about the
story? Tick one box for each sentence.
YES NO
44
ACTIVITIES
While Reading
45
activities: While Reading
Before you read Chapter 3, can you guess the answer to this
question?
Why
1 . . . did Ram Dass come across the roof to Sara’s room?
2 . . . did Sara feel sorry for the Indian gentleman?
3 . . . did Mr Carrisford want to find Ralph Crewe’s child?
4 . . . did Mr Carrisford run away from Ralph in India?
5 . . . was Mr Carrisford sorry for the little servant-girl
next door?
6 . . . did Mr Carmichael go to Moscow?
7 . . . did Sara give her bread to a child in the street?
8 . . . was Sara very unhappy that night?
46
activities: While Reading
1 Ram Dass goes to Sara’s attic, but Sara doesn’t see him.
2 Ram Dass leaves some money for Sara in her room.
3 Sara talks to Ram Dass and tells him her name.
4 Ram Dass tells Mr Carrisford that Sara is Ralph
Crewe’s daughter.
5 The monkey runs away again to Sara’s room.
47
ACTIVITIES
After Reading
Dear Ermie,
I have something_____ to tell you! I am writing this in the
Indian gentleman’s_____ . His name is Mr Carrisford, and
he was my father’s_____ in India. And, Ermie, there
WERE_____ in the_____ - thousands of them - but they
only found them_____ my father died.
Mr Carrisford was ill with a_____ too, and when he
got_____ , he came to England to look for me. But he
couldn’t_____ me because he didn’t______ my name. And
all the time, Ermie, I was a_____ in the house______ door!
_____ of the diamonds are mine now, Mr Carrisford
says. But the _____ thing is this, Ermie. Mr Carrisford is a
very_____ man, and he wants to take______ of me. So I’m
going to_____ with him and have a______ again. You
must come and visit me often.
Your best friend, Sara
48
activities: After Reading
2 Here is a new illustration for the story. Find the best place
in the story to put the picture, and answer these questions.
Caption:______________________________________________
49
activities: After Reading
‘Sara Crewe? Oh yes, she lives across the street now, with
Mr Carrisford, her father’s brother. I was very kind to her
when her father died in Africa. She slept in the best
bedroom, and was never cold or hungry. She taught French
50
activities: After Reading
□□□□□□□□
6 What did you think about the people in this story? Choose
some names, and finish these sentences in your own words.
51
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
52
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53
THE OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY
GRADING AND SAMPLE EXTRACTS
54
STAGE 3 • IOOO HEADWORDS
... should, may - present perfect continuous - used to - past perfect -
causative - relative clauses - indirect statements ...
I was glad. Now Hyde could not show his face to the world
again. If he did, every honest man in London would be proud
to report him to the police. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
55
BOOKWORMS ■ FANTASY & HORROR ■ STAGE 1
Pocahontas
RETOLD BY TIM VICARY
56
A Little Princess
Sara Crewe is a very rich little gir I. She first
comes to England when she is sevon, and
her father takes her to MrMini Inn'’,
school in London. Then lie got". Ii.r k Io hr.
work in India. Sam Is vmy '.ail al In '.l, Ind
she soon makes friends at st liool
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< STAGE.3 audio downlumlt anti
<STAGE 2 digital Imp rttoun >•* qo i
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400 Headwords
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS