The Princess and the Pea

by Hans Christian Andersen, Charlene Delage (Illustrator)

Introduce young readers to the captivating world of classic fairy tales in this beautifully illustrated easy-reader series.

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Hans Christian Andersen (often referred to in Scandinavia as H.C. Andersen) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories — called eventyr, or "fairy-tales" — express themes that transcend age and nationality.

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.

Reviews

[Jessica]

A very simple retelling for easy reader purposes. A young prince searches the world over, but can find no real princesses. One stormy night, the king answers a knock at the door only to find a sodden girl who claims to be a princess. The queen plans a test for the girl, placing a pea under 20 mattresses & 20 feather beds. Come morning, the girl claims that it was the worst night of sleep she has ever had. She is declared to be a true princess, and she and the prince are married.
Simple illustrations. Lacks diversity and character development, but fine if you are looking for the traditional tale.

Teaching points: fairytales

Grade level: K-2

Location: LES library

[Kayla Satterly]

The Princess and the Pea is about a Prince who is searching for a bride. He travels to many lands searching for a wife but each one that he finds has something wrong with her. The first is too boastful, the second is too proud, and the third tells lies. He returns home very sad and lonely. That night a Princess shows up at the castle door. She needs a place to stay so they welcome her. The queen is unsure if she is really a princess. The queen takes a single pea and places it under twenty matresses and twenty quilts and decides that if the princess can feel the pea then she is indeed a princess. The next morning the princess describes something small poking her all night. The queen is overjoyed and the prince and princess get married.
I really liked this book because it is a classic fairy tale that I would have loved to have read to me when I was younger. I could ask my students why the prince did not choose the first three princesses and talk about how it is not good to be boastful, proud or dishonest. It is good to be humble and honest like the last princess. This book would be more appealing to the girls in the classroom but could also appeal to the boys.

[Meltha]

Another very basic version of the story here for early readers, and it works quite well. While the main characters all remain Caucasian, some of the princess who aren't chosen are different races or nationalities, so there is a bit of nod to diversity here. There's nothing spectacular here, but it does what it sets out to do.

[Madelyne]

I hated this book!

[ILove MadsMikkelsen]

Not that bad ;)

[Naomi]

Standard retelling of a fairy tale. Nothing stood out or was special. Even the illustrations were mediocre.