Book guide: Princess Victoria
Can princesses be homeless?
Princess Victoria is a warm story about homelessness, simple and open-minded, just as it should be. A book about friendship and solidarity with a homeless princess!
Questions about feelings and moving
The child in the book walks up and talks to Victoria even though he doesn't know her. Do you think you had? How do you think it feels if no one ever talks to you?
The child is not invited to the party and tells Victoria about this. The child thinks it feels better when she can talk about her feelings for Victoria. Do you have someone you can talk to when you are angry or sad?
The child is sad when Victoria leaves without saying goodbye. But then he sees that Victoria has drawn a heart in the snow. How do you think it feels then? Have you ever been sad because someone moved? Or because you have moved?
Questions about homelessness
Victoria doesn't seem to have anywhere to live, so the child leaves the door to the house open. Have you met someone who has nowhere to live? How do you think it feels to have nowhere to live?
Victoria doesn't go to the dentist even though she really needs to. What do you think it is due to? How do you think one could have solved the problem?
Victoria doesn't have mittens or a hat even though it's cold outside. Why do you think she doesn't have it? What would you have done if you had seen someone sitting outside without gloves and a hat when it is cold?
The child gives his father's warmest mittens and hat to Victoria. Do you think he is doing the right thing? Why? Why not?
Victoria in the book is named the same as Crown Princess Victoria Bernadotte. Do you know who it is? Do you think they are similar in any other way? What do you think is different about the two Victorias?
About homelessness
Today, most children meet or see people who have nowhere to live. Many homeless people testify that among the worst things about being homeless is being invisible to the people who pass by. In 2022, over 33,000 people will be homeless in Sweden. The country's urban missions are convinced that there are significantly more.
According to the National Board of Health and Welfare, homelessness depends both on individual factors and on shortcomings in society. The book Princess Victoria gives space to a homeless person and what children experience.
About empathy
Our world consists of many different kinds of people. Learning to see all people as fellow human beings worthy of respect and empathy is important for maintaining our democratic values. If we exclude the homeless from our books, children get a distorted picture of who belongs to society.
In this book there is homeless Victoria whom the child meets in an obvious way. The child in the book has no clearly defined gender, which makes it easier for all children to relate to his feelings and actions. If the question of gender comes up, you as an educator can ask what it is that makes the children wonder. Consider together whether the character is a hen, she or he and what things they use as clues and whether it matters what the child is.
