princesse

by Wilsdorf a

Le prince Léopold veut épouser Princesse, une jolie bergère, mais la reine-mère s'oppose à cette mésalliance. Sournoise, elle soumet Princesse au fameux test du petit pois.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Paperback

Published October 26, 1999

Reviews

[Kathryn]

I like retellings of fairy tales and this definitely is a fun one. I like that it makes a common shepherdess the winner instead of a full-blooded princess. My daughter got a great kick out of the made-up monster names that represented the poor character traits of the real princesses - one won't stop watching television, one is bloodthirsty, one is vain, and one is an OCD clean freak. Kudos to the prince for recognizing that just because they are "certified" doesn't mean they are worth his time. You'll have to read it to find out how Princess gets past the pea test the snobbish queen sets up. That really delighted my daughter! It's power-to-the-people, kindness matters, and be true to who you are all in one without any inherent preachiness. Great book!

[Fjóla]

Loosely based on the story of the Princess and the Pea, this is a light and humorous fairy tale. The illustrations are whimsical and the text is at times witty and clever. My son read the book to me, and whereas the dragon names are a bit hard to pronounce, he enjoyed the story of the four dragons to conquer. There's a hint of social criticism in the text, as one princess turns out to be not a good match for our prince since she's too obsessed with watching TV and another is hygiene obsessed, the third is violent, the fourth is vain. The dragons are appropriately named Videopteryx, Antiseptyx, etc. and there are other hints of play on words. Of course the common girl ends up being the best of the lot.