For the most part, reading seems like all Belle does. Whereas, Punzie has tons of other activities she partakes in. But idk, if she reads two or three books a day, she might actually have Belle beat in that regards as well.

There are other princesses besides Belle, who read books. This does not lend Belle that "selective designation" anymore.

I might pick Rapunzel because she has more free time, but she only owns three books. And wavesurf, I think Belle is known as the "princess who reads books" because none of the other DPs are shown reading for fun besides Rapunzel, and like anaswill said, Rapunzel has a ton of other activities she does too.

^It's an old designation. Ariel was already shown as being interested in what books had to say, and she predated Belle.

Anyway. Belle is not the only princess who reads. So this point is kind of moot.

It's suggested that she's read the entire bookshop in her village, and likes to reread some of her favorites. Punzie rereads her books as well...But during the events of the movie she only reads those three books that are in her tower and nothing else. Not much to compare to a bookshop.

I feel like once Rapunzel gets acquainted with the palace library though, she and Belle will be on par. And Rapunzel seems more likely to read books about geography and science than Belle, who seems to like the more fictitious books.

I was going to say something, but Aang_lite, beat me to it. Ariel and Rapunzel probably want to know science-related material. Ariel, for example, wants to know the equation for why a fire "burns," and Rapunzel would probably be an astronomer given how she has painted her tower in stars. After reading all the books in a book shop, Belle only gravitates toward fairy-tales ( which aren't necessarily bad, but they aren't real), and this shows how much Belle is "interested' in the world around her, and how the world actually "works." It's not just the amount that is read-- it's also the quality and utility of what is read.

Rapunzel and Elsa -- and both for the same reason. They're both pretty much locked away. and have lots of time on their hands. And Elsa probably had to do a lot of studying up on international relations and history and science and whatever in preparation for becoming an educated and worldly queen.

^^Yeah. My earlier point still holds. Also, Tiana reads recipes, as well, and cooking magazines. Merida spends time studying literature and foreign policy just like Elsa. Belle is not the only one who reads.

Belle is certainly not the only one who reads but she does read the most. Ariel most likely only has the one book, Tiana works too much and isn't interested in fiction material, Rapunzel has many activities she engages in and I haven't seen evidence of any of the other princesses reading or liking reading as a hobby but I may be wrong. The reason, I think, Belle is so associated with books was because reading was her absolute favorite activity and it seems highly likely that she might have read near all of the books in her local bookstore already by the line "Have you got anything new? (Not since yesterday.)" Not definite but possible. Post-script I think Ariel, Belle and Rapunzel would read in about equal amounts because they all had a desire to travel and explore. Belle's got that huge library in the castle though which gives her quicker and better access and material as she lives there.