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The Princess and the Pea
When a bedraggled young lady shows up at the castle, only the queen will be able to determine if she's really the princess she claims to be by hiding a tiny green pea under twelve down mattresses.
44 pages, Hardcover
First published November 24, 2005
About the author
Lauren Child
405 books796 followersLauren Child MBE is an English author and illustrator. She was the UK Children's Laureate from 2017-19.
Child grew up in Wiltshire as the middle child of three sisters and the daughter of two teachers. She has always been interested in the many aspects of childhood, from gazing into toy shop windows to watching American children's shows from the 1960s. After attending two Art Schools, she travelled for six months, still unsure about which career to embark upon.
Before writing and illustrating children's books Child started her own company 'Chandeliers for the People' making lampshades. It was only when she came to write and illustrate the book Clarice Bean, That's Me that she decided to devote her time to writing and illustrating books for children, which combines her fascination for childhood and her talent for designing and creating. Child gets her inspiration from other people's conversations or from seeing something funny happen.
Her book I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato won the 2000 Kate Greenaway Medal. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which comprised the shortlist for a public vote for the nation's favourite. It finished third in the public vote from that shortlist.
Child lives in North London.
Child grew up in Wiltshire as the middle child of three sisters and the daughter of two teachers. She has always been interested in the many aspects of childhood, from gazing into toy shop windows to watching American children's shows from the 1960s. After attending two Art Schools, she travelled for six months, still unsure about which career to embark upon.
Before writing and illustrating children's books Child started her own company 'Chandeliers for the People' making lampshades. It was only when she came to write and illustrate the book Clarice Bean, That's Me that she decided to devote her time to writing and illustrating books for children, which combines her fascination for childhood and her talent for designing and creating. Child gets her inspiration from other people's conversations or from seeing something funny happen.
Her book I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato won the 2000 Kate Greenaway Medal. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which comprised the shortlist for a public vote for the nation's favourite. It finished third in the public vote from that shortlist.
Child lives in North London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews
July 17, 2018
This is such a wonderful version of this well known story. It's one of my favourite fairy stories and Lauren Child's version has great illustrations and text. The illustrations are paper cut outs and scenes that are so skilfully arranged and photographed. They give you the feeling of looking into a dolls house, there's so much detail to look at. The imagery for this tale is good anyway, the bedraggled princess, the lightening, the castle, the bed with many mattresses, all things I found fascinating in the ladybird version I had as a child. I really like the way Lauren Child added to the story by changing the response of the princess when asked if she slept well to a polite 'very well thank you' as you would do if you were a polite person having been given a bed for the night, so the queen seeks to test her 'delicateness' another way. A really lovely book, it makes a lovely present.
January 13, 2016
My children have loved most of the picture books by Lauren Child and they have come to appreciate her signature style, which is a winning combination of funky fonts, unique and witty narratives (with equally witty asides) and clever mixed media storyboards. This rendering of the classic folk tale was fun to read. Also, both my kids produced a frozen pea in a plastic sandwich bag to place under their mattresses tonight. I admit it...the bag was my idea...but obviously the story resonated with them. 4 stars.
June 7, 2017
Lauren Child: New Children's Laureate worried about equality in books
Betsy DeVos won't be using Lauren Child anytime soon...
June 1, 2009
I love dollhouse furniture, I love paper dolls, I love creativity and so it's little wonder that I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! Lauren Child has created a splendid world for the Princess and Cast to inhabit and oh what fun it is! You see, the people are all paper cutouts with the most splendid fabrics and the most amusing expressions and such lively poses. They inhabit a very three-dimensional world, however, and this is formed chiefly with dollhouse furniture, from beds and chairs to teeny-tiny books to china teacups! But it doesn't stop there—for the princess lives in a treehouse and she goes on midnight wandering through a forest—so lots of scope for the imagination and Child's artistic talents here. The story is told in a very cute way, too--lots of little narrative interruptions like "you know how these fairy-tale princes are..." I loved it. Everything!!! One potential drawback for some readers might be that the characters' expressions sometimes look a tad gloomy or even angry—I don't think this was Child's intent but rather the style she was employing. Never-the-less, I think this is one not to be missed by anyone who loved paper dolls or dreamed of having a beautifully furnished dollhouse.
(Inside the back cover there is a good amount of detail on how the Child and the photographer went about creating the book, but alas I got this at the library and the dustjacket was taped down over half of it! I will probably be adding this to my personal library, though, so I look forward to reading more then.)
(Inside the back cover there is a good amount of detail on how the Child and the photographer went about creating the book, but alas I got this at the library and the dustjacket was taped down over half of it! I will probably be adding this to my personal library, though, so I look forward to reading more then.)
January 22, 2019
Hans Christian Andersen's brief fairy-tale, The Princess and the Pea, is significantly expanded in this retelling by Lauren Child, author of the popular Charlie and Lola books. The bare-bones narrative is fleshed out, as the romantic young Prince longs for a girl who is "more mesmerizing than the moon...more fascinating than all the stars in the sky," with a "certain... something about her." His parents, on the other hand, are determined that he marry a REAL princess, so when a bedraggled (but beautiful) young women shows up on the palace doorstep one rainy night, claiming to be one, the Queen devises a test...
Just as with Lauren Child's retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears , I found her narrative here immensely engaging, with a dry sense of humor that really appealed to me, and a shift in focus - real princesses are kind, and they have MANNERS - that was most welcome. Unfortunately, I also felt a similar ambivalence about the illustrations - here it was paper dolls posed in constructed miniature sets and photographed, there it was 3-D dolls in constructed miniature sets. I thought it was interesting, and I appreciated the craftsmanship of it all, but it wasn't really to my taste. Still, for those who do appreciate this style, and for young doll-lovers who also enjoy fairy-tales, I imagine that this picture-book will be a dream come true.
Just as with Lauren Child's retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears , I found her narrative here immensely engaging, with a dry sense of humor that really appealed to me, and a shift in focus - real princesses are kind, and they have MANNERS - that was most welcome. Unfortunately, I also felt a similar ambivalence about the illustrations - here it was paper dolls posed in constructed miniature sets and photographed, there it was 3-D dolls in constructed miniature sets. I thought it was interesting, and I appreciated the craftsmanship of it all, but it wasn't really to my taste. Still, for those who do appreciate this style, and for young doll-lovers who also enjoy fairy-tales, I imagine that this picture-book will be a dream come true.
July 9, 2019
A favorite! I loved the story when I was young but when I saw the illustrations I fell in love... it's not an illustrated book actually, the author created a doll house with paper characters and photographed the story. It's so pretty.
A retelling, with photographs of three-dimensional miniatures and paper characters, of Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a girl who proves that she is a princess by feeling a pea through many mattresses.
A retelling, with photographs of three-dimensional miniatures and paper characters, of Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a girl who proves that she is a princess by feeling a pea through many mattresses.
February 24, 2021
This is,without a doubt,the best Princess and the Pea story! My older two loved it when they were younger and my youngest four love it now.
June 11, 2009
Oh, I just loved this version of The Princess and the Pea. As soon as I started reading, I found myself listening as though I was reading aloud; this book begs to be read aloud, and it would make a terrific story time book. It’s one that can be enjoyed equally well by children and adults.
The way the tale is told is very funny, but it also takes the story seriously. The illustrations are really amazing and a lot of fun to pour over multiple times.
My only suggestion is not to read this to children already reluctant to eat peas if you want them to eat them, or you should skip the last page. If kids already like peas I doubt that this book will change their mind; they’ll still like them.
Many of the illustrations had me awe struck, particularly the two page spread of the princess in the woods, and the miniatures that appear on most pages. Just lovely.
The way the tale is told is very funny, but it also takes the story seriously. The illustrations are really amazing and a lot of fun to pour over multiple times.
My only suggestion is not to read this to children already reluctant to eat peas if you want them to eat them, or you should skip the last page. If kids already like peas I doubt that this book will change their mind; they’ll still like them.
Many of the illustrations had me awe struck, particularly the two page spread of the princess in the woods, and the miniatures that appear on most pages. Just lovely.
June 14, 2009
This stays pretty true to the classic fairy-tale of the "Princess and the Pea" though there are some slight differences.
The prince must marry a princess, (happily, he'd much rather marry for love). But, he does insist that if he must marry a princess she must be a TRUE princess. As the book unfolds we learn the details of what makes a true princess: good manners, kindness (I think beauty, but it's not made out to be THE main characteristic). What I liked, was that it was never made clear if a TRUE princess is actually a princess by status, or a princess by character. As in, can everyone be a princess if she possesses these good characteristics? A nice thought for little girls, for sure!
Add to this the creative, captivating and enchanting pictures. I like how the book is by Lauren Child and "captured by" Polly Borland - so perfect!
The prince must marry a princess, (happily, he'd much rather marry for love). But, he does insist that if he must marry a princess she must be a TRUE princess. As the book unfolds we learn the details of what makes a true princess: good manners, kindness (I think beauty, but it's not made out to be THE main characteristic). What I liked, was that it was never made clear if a TRUE princess is actually a princess by status, or a princess by character. As in, can everyone be a princess if she possesses these good characteristics? A nice thought for little girls, for sure!
Add to this the creative, captivating and enchanting pictures. I like how the book is by Lauren Child and "captured by" Polly Borland - so perfect!
March 25, 2008
I think The Princess and the Pea has always been my favorite fairy tale, and Lauren Child has carved out an even deeper place in my heart for this age old story! I fell in love with her style in The Story book Wolves and I still can't wait to read whatever she does. There is something so comforting and yet primitive about fairy tales, and her renderings add another layer to the mystique. This is such a romantic story when all is said and done. There's a prince who wants a girl who's "more mesmerizing than the moon...more fascinating than all the stars in the sky...and there must be a certain something about her". And a real princess who is so different from all the other girls, so curious and mesmerized by the magical moon. And she loses herself in a rainstorm as she's chasing the moon and winds up soaking wet at the castle doors. Of course, we know the rest of the story, but Child's retelling (and the whimsical illustrations are magical, too) tells you what a real prince and princess are really like. They're not like the automatons we see in every day life. They're the special magical people. The one's who notice those little intricacies and it consumes them.
July 1, 2024
4 September 2006
he miniatures are AMAZING. Even if you don't care for picture books you should take a few minutes to look at this one. Seriously.
***
30 June 2024
That up there is still absolutely true and utterly accurate. Details i noticed this time and feel compelled to mention: the paper dolls in the model sets are a very different vibe from Goldilocks. Also. I rather like the way Child addresses the traditional princess whiney aspect of the tale, and I kind of love that the prince and princess are so over the top and just the weenies bit exasperating. I expect they'll be quite happy together. The king and queen, on the other hand, are pur pragmatism.
Library copy, again
he miniatures are AMAZING. Even if you don't care for picture books you should take a few minutes to look at this one. Seriously.
***
30 June 2024
That up there is still absolutely true and utterly accurate. Details i noticed this time and feel compelled to mention: the paper dolls in the model sets are a very different vibe from Goldilocks. Also. I rather like the way Child addresses the traditional princess whiney aspect of the tale, and I kind of love that the prince and princess are so over the top and just the weenies bit exasperating. I expect they'll be quite happy together. The king and queen, on the other hand, are pur pragmatism.
Library copy, again
June 30, 2016
A really lovely retelling of Princess and the Pea with unique illustrations that includes both photography and sketches. I enjoyed the costuming of the characters though their facial expressions are a little odd.
October 9, 2007
I love Lauren Child's style - a mix of basic drawings and real photographs. This is a cute and charming retelling of a classic story.
June 2, 2024
[كتاب روائي 27»»كتاب صوتي 9»» اللغة إنجليزية 4]
نحب ��فهم هالتفاهة الي كنا نقراوها و أحنا صغار!!
What's the point??
بالحق، شنوة الي الفايدة الي تخرج بيها بعد ما تقرى قصة كيما هاذي🤔🤔
و كيفاش حاجة تافهة تكون معيار يبني عليها واحد قرار م��يري كيما الزواج!!!!
Je crois que les parents لازم تولي عندهم conscience أكبر بالقصص الي يقراوها و إلا يخليو ولادهم يقراوهم
خاطر حاجة كيما هكا ما تنجم تزيد كان الغباء.
نحب ��فهم هالتفاهة الي كنا نقراوها و أحنا صغار!!
What's the point??
بالحق، شنوة الي الفايدة الي تخرج بيها بعد ما تقرى قصة كيما هاذي🤔🤔
و كيفاش حاجة تافهة تكون معيار يبني عليها واحد قرار م��يري كيما الزواج!!!!
Je crois que les parents لازم تولي عندهم conscience أكبر بالقصص الي يقراوها و إلا يخليو ولادهم يقراوهم
خاطر حاجة كيما هكا ما تنجم تزيد كان الغباء.
November 10, 2014
There was once a prince looking for a princess to marry him, but she must be a real princess.
He traveled all over the world in hopes of finding such a princess. But no matter where he went, he always met with some obstacles. Princess down some, but he had no way to determine who really is not a real princess. They always some places besotted.
As a result, he had returned to his very happy, because he was so eager to get a real princess.
One evening, suddenly played a terrible storm. Sky Chedian, in thunder, and the rain. This is really a bit frightening!
Then someone knocked at the door, the old king went and opened the door.
Standing outside is a princess. But, my God! After the wind and rain, her look is so ugly ah! The water to flow down below her hair and clothes, flowing into clung to flow out.
She said she was a real princess.
"Yes, this is something we'll be able to examine them." Thought the old Queen, but she said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bedding have to move away, on the couch to put a pea. So she took twenty mattresses, they pressed on peas. Then she put twenty feather beds over the mattresses.
The princess slept the night on top of these things.
In the morning we asked her had slept.
"Ah, not very comfortable!" The princess said, "I almost do not close your eyes all night! God knows what I have pieces of the bed? I sleep on top of a very hard thing, made my whole body black and blue, which really afraid! "
Now we can see out. She is a real princess, because through the twenty mattresses and twenty feather of a pea, she had been able to feel it. In addition to real princess, does anyone have such a delicate skin.
So the prince took her for his wife, because now he knows he's got a real princess. The pea was put in the museum, and if no one put it away, then people can now see it in there yet.
Note that this is a true story.
The book full of picture and use colorful vivid comic style to demonstrate the whole story, let the children get into the story and really started to like read them. It's a really bedtime story.
He traveled all over the world in hopes of finding such a princess. But no matter where he went, he always met with some obstacles. Princess down some, but he had no way to determine who really is not a real princess. They always some places besotted.
As a result, he had returned to his very happy, because he was so eager to get a real princess.
One evening, suddenly played a terrible storm. Sky Chedian, in thunder, and the rain. This is really a bit frightening!
Then someone knocked at the door, the old king went and opened the door.
Standing outside is a princess. But, my God! After the wind and rain, her look is so ugly ah! The water to flow down below her hair and clothes, flowing into clung to flow out.
She said she was a real princess.
"Yes, this is something we'll be able to examine them." Thought the old Queen, but she said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bedding have to move away, on the couch to put a pea. So she took twenty mattresses, they pressed on peas. Then she put twenty feather beds over the mattresses.
The princess slept the night on top of these things.
In the morning we asked her had slept.
"Ah, not very comfortable!" The princess said, "I almost do not close your eyes all night! God knows what I have pieces of the bed? I sleep on top of a very hard thing, made my whole body black and blue, which really afraid! "
Now we can see out. She is a real princess, because through the twenty mattresses and twenty feather of a pea, she had been able to feel it. In addition to real princess, does anyone have such a delicate skin.
So the prince took her for his wife, because now he knows he's got a real princess. The pea was put in the museum, and if no one put it away, then people can now see it in there yet.
Note that this is a true story.
The book full of picture and use colorful vivid comic style to demonstrate the whole story, let the children get into the story and really started to like read them. It's a really bedtime story.
August 5, 2015
My daughter brought this book home from her school library. The book smelled poorly but we read it anyway.
The story did not keep the interest of my 6 year old. She was all over the place, wiggly and wanting to be done. If I pointed out something in the pictures, this helped with her attention but I think the story was boring to her.
The book is written in an old fashioned way of talking. I'm not familiar with the author, but the writing came across to me as very British. I was able to pick up on the dry humor and follow along well with the style of writing, but again, I think all of this flew over my 6 year old's head.
There were a few places in the book where the words were off. For example, "But just as she came out of the woods a dark cloud moved across the moon and suddenly...it wasn't." Wasn't what? I thought I skipped a page. There was also the part where the King and Queen answered their own door but had the servants make the bed. Hmmm
Once we got to the actual pea presentation, my daughter thought that was kinda funny to do that.
The illustrator is described on the book as "Captured by". I thought that was funny. The pictures, if you will, are items staged and then drawings placed in the picture. Quite an interesting concept. We liked the pages when the princess was in the woods.
Overall, this book had humor (that only I caught), some fun language, interesting illustrations and it told an old story with some new points. I would recommend this book for little girls. It is worth a once over.
The story did not keep the interest of my 6 year old. She was all over the place, wiggly and wanting to be done. If I pointed out something in the pictures, this helped with her attention but I think the story was boring to her.
The book is written in an old fashioned way of talking. I'm not familiar with the author, but the writing came across to me as very British. I was able to pick up on the dry humor and follow along well with the style of writing, but again, I think all of this flew over my 6 year old's head.
There were a few places in the book where the words were off. For example, "But just as she came out of the woods a dark cloud moved across the moon and suddenly...it wasn't." Wasn't what? I thought I skipped a page. There was also the part where the King and Queen answered their own door but had the servants make the bed. Hmmm
Once we got to the actual pea presentation, my daughter thought that was kinda funny to do that.
The illustrator is described on the book as "Captured by". I thought that was funny. The pictures, if you will, are items staged and then drawings placed in the picture. Quite an interesting concept. We liked the pages when the princess was in the woods.
Overall, this book had humor (that only I caught), some fun language, interesting illustrations and it told an old story with some new points. I would recommend this book for little girls. It is worth a once over.
March 6, 2016
While the font is occasionally a little difficult to read, that's an extremely minor complaint for a very creative and clever book. The story is expanded here with some background on the princess (who lives in a tree) and the prince (a romantic who will only marry for love), making it a bit long for a readalong in a classroom, but not by much. The pictures, though, are a wonderful draw. I thought I recognized the style of artwork, and this is the same artist who draws the Lola and Charlie stories from England. Here, she turns the human characters into basically paper dolls, then puts them into dollhouse miniature sets and photographs the results. It's really quite charming. Also, here the queen uses 12 mattresses (no feather beds) instead of 20 here resulting in the first version of this I've seen where the illustrations actually match the number given. Seriously, NONE of the other ones do, and it was driving me nuts. So, extra kudos for that.
June 12, 2008
Lauren Child, the author and creator of Lola and Charlie, is brilliant. This book is beautiful, creative, and unique. What a treat as a parent to feast on such amazing talent while enjoying it with your kids. A great book to add to any library!
July 12, 2016
one of my favourite picture books as a kid and even today! I've decided to read a few of my favourite childhood picture books over the next week or so to catch up on my goodreads and to be a bit nostalgic, and this is a very good place to start!
January 22, 2008
أحب كل كتب هذه الكاتبة الفنانة..
هذا الكتاب يحكي قصة "الأميرة وحبة الفول" أو كما حولَتها إلى حبة بازلاء..
طريقة إخراج الكتاب ورسمه قصة في حد ذاته..
هذا الكتاب يحكي قصة "الأميرة وحبة الفول" أو كما حولَتها إلى حبة بازلاء..
طريقة إخراج الكتاب ورسمه قصة في حد ذاته..
September 23, 2011
Somewhat wordy, suitable for older kids or adults. I liked the artwork.
March 31, 2012
This is such a great book!!!! I love it!!!
February 3, 2020
This is such a wonderful version of this well known story. The illustrations are paper cut outs and scenes that are so nicely arranged and appealing to the eye. They give you the feeling of looking into a dolls house, there's so much detail to look at. The imagery for this tale is good anyway, the bedraggled princess, the lightening, the castle, the bed with many mattresses, all things I found fascinating in the ladybird version I had as a child. I really like the way Lauren Child added to the story by changing the response of the princess when asked if she slept well to a polite 'very well thank you' as you would do if you were a polite person having been given a bed for the night, so the queen seeks to test her 'delicateness' another way. A really lovely book, it makes a lovely present.
June 17, 2019
This cute fairy tale is about how a princess was tested. The princess arrives at this castle, and she does not look like a typical princess. She is a little weather-worn and the queen is suspicious. The queen does a special test to see whether this princess is really who she says she is. The queen has one of her servants hide a pea under a lot of mattresses, blankets, and other comfy items. The princess sleeps on this large stack of beds and awakes with bruises on her body because of this pea. Read the rest of the story to find out what happens to the princess and whether she marries the prince.
November 28, 2017
This books has such wonderful pictures, that must have taken a lot of time and effort! It would be great to try and recreate something similar, maybe with dioramas, to then allow the children to create a stop-motion of a different well known fairy tale that they have re-written. There's also a lot of work that could be done on the wonderful use of fonts within the texts, with a real mixture of small, large, curvy and standard fonts that help the reader to infer how the text is to be read aloud.
January 31, 2018
I'm trying to do a better job of recording the books my daughter checks out from her school library on Wednesdays - this one was especially remarkable for its artwork, which felt almost like rotoscope or stop motion technique in print. It also seemed amusingly cheeky and ironic in its focus on "real princesses," but I'm not sure if that concept was employed the same way in the original Hans Christian Andersen fairytale: I'm more familiar with The Little Mermaid and The Snow Queen!
July 15, 2017
Als je geen erwtjes lust, dan zou je wel eens een échte prinses kunnen zijn, zo eentje als in het sprookje van de prinses en de erwt. Dan moet je meteen naar het kasteel, om als een echte prinses te kunnen leven. Met uren zwaaien en speeches oefenen en vooral veel cold cabbage stew eten... Het gras is duidelijk toch niet altijd groener aan de overkant... :-)
November 16, 2022
I thought this story was very intereting. I do not remember reading this story as a kid so I had no idea what it was about. I do think it was one of the best fairytales I have raed. It sends a good message out to kids and I think ti would be a great story to raed to a classroom. The moral of the story is somrthing that is important to learn about as a kis. Never judge a book by its cover.
November 15, 2017
This book always makes me want to be a private doll collector :) The clinking of the porcelain cups and the swishing of the small feather dusters and the luster of miniature jewelry and the tiny details...
September 29, 2018
The illustrations were very clever and the prince got some character description that normally doesn't happen in fairy tales. But overall I feel like the princess was got piled up with too many abstract ideals that no one can really live up too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews