The Princess and the Pea

by Rachel Isadora

When a prince sets out to find a princess to marry, he soon discovers this is not a simple task. There is no shortage of so-called princesses, but how can he tell whether or not they are what they claim to be? Then one night, a great storm rages, there's a knock on the palace gate, and the prince's life is never the same. Caldecott Honors-winning artist Rachel Isadora exquisitely illustrates this retelling of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale and takes readers to a beautiful African setting--a first for the ?true story? of a tiny pea that changed everything.

Genres: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Africa, Fiction, Cultural, Folklore

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 21, 2007

About the author

Rachel Isadora is an award-winning children's author and illustrator. She has written children's books on multiple topics including ballet, life in America and Africa, and has illustrated several Brother Grimm tales in an African setting. She is most well-known for her Caldecott Honor Award book "Ben's Trumpet". She was a ballet dancer before she became an illustrator and children's writer.

Reviews

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This version of The Princess and the Pea is succinctly told with a stunning, African themed illustrative style.

[Ms. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genre: Traditional Story / Picture book
Copyright: 2009
Age level of interest: 4-8 yrs old
Reading level: Pre-K - 3rd grade

Brief Description:
A remake of the classic story by Hans Christian Anderson tells the story of a Prince who sets off to find a Princess to marry. Set in Africa with an all black cast representing different African cultures with vibrant collage illustrations

Two Characteristics:

Plot: The story keeps many of the traditional prince and princess elements (prince has the power to choose, princesses eager to marry). It is simple and straightforward for the most part but a bit confusing toward the end when a storm ravaged Princess finds her way to the castle. It took me a reread to understand what was happening.

Characters: This all black cast shows various shades of brown and cultural differences (although in a colonial exoticism way) within East Africa. These differences are seen through greetings in different languages, different clothing and hair styles and landscapes.


Serving it's audience:

This picture book would serve Pre-K through 2nd grade readers somewhat. It is beautifully illustrated and offers a different image of your classic princess story. Some of the pictures and writing is awkward however and tends to give a falsely exotic Africa image reminiscent of old National Geographics. Although the author has lived in East Africa for 10 years it is clear that she is still impacted by a colonial world view (like many of us) - I would not include this in my collection.

Awards:
None found.

Review:
Kirkus Review - June 1, 2007

[Lara Lleverino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE the illustrations in this Africa set version of Hans Christian Andersen's The Princess and the Pea. The story was lovely there was just one small problem I had. The last sentence on the page says, "There, that is a true story." I can't think of any sense in which this story is "true" and I think it is important to be clear about what things we say are "true" especially to younger very literal minded children.

[Gia Bittner · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a cute retelling of a Hans Christian Andersen story - succinct but fun drawings.
-Dad

[Alyssa Kleiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: The Princess and the Pea
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Illustrator: Rachel Isadora

Genre: European Folktale

Theme(s): Princes, Princesses, Africa, Palaces,

Opening line/sentence:
 Once upon a time, there was a prince.
Brief Book Summary: Set in Africa, a prince is looking for a princess. A woman comes during a storm and claims to be a princess. She sleeps on top of 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds, not knowing there is a pea underneath the bottom. She wakes up with bruises, which proves she is a real princess. They get married and the pea gets put into a museum.


Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
• Kirkus Reviews
• https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
• “Where this treatment goes dangerously wrong, however, is in the portrayal of the three rejected princesses who precede the mattress-princess: The first wears a series of rings that elongate her neck; the second is very dark and tattooed all over; the third is darker yet, overweight by Western standards and wears a dead fish on her head. The successful princess sports buoyant dreadlocks and physically adheres to an American norm. By thus exoticizing the rejected princesses, the tale does an enormous disservice to readers and continent alike.”
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
• Booklist Reviews
• NYPL
• https://browse.nypl.org/iii/encore/re...
• “The storm scene is confusing: which figure is the visitor? Otherwise, the European story works beautifully in the lush new setting with an all-black cast and clear, detailed layers everywhere, including necklaces, head cloths, fabrics, and kente cloth. Collage is the perfect medium to show the piled-up mattresses and feather beds, each one a different texture and pattern.”
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
• I agree with both of the reviews. I think that the illustrations were very beautiful. However, I agree with Kirkus Reviews about how the portrayal of the African women is dangerous. I think that it definitely stereotyped African culture and this can definitely be wrong to place in a classroom.

Evaluation of Literary Elements: 

• The illustrations are very bold and colorful, which immediately grabs the readers’ eyes. The background of the text is plain white, which helps to draw the attention towards the illustrations, which really support the text. The rain is drawn diagonally and in triangles, which really make it look harsh. I think the illustrations really support the plot of the story and offer a new perspective to the classic story.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
• I could talk about how illustrations support text in a mini-lesson. If it weren’t for the illustrations, the reader wouldn’t know that the book took place in Africa. As an extension activity, I could have students write a sentence or a paragraph and then draw a picture that supports what they wrote.

[Katelyn Gerressen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this rendition of "Princess and the Pea", a prince is on a journey to find a princess of his own, but struggles on his journey after realizing many of the women he had met were not in fact real princesses. He was discouraged and headed home, and while he was there, a woman came knocking on the door who was a princess and needed help. The mother decided to test the woman, and put a Pea under forty mattresses for her to sleep on, because if she was delicate enough to feel the pea, she was in fact a real princess. Not only did I love this classic tale, but the images throughout the book were absolutely astounding. Rachel uses many bold colors in the images to make them stand out, and it helps the reader really see what is going on in the story. Because the story is from a different country and time period, the author organizes the pictures and text on the page in a way that allows the pictures to tell the story as much (if not more) than the text itself does. Although the pictures are not organized in specific places like a photograph, there is very clean line work, which makes this picture book more easy to read. The tone of this reading is positive, and towards the end of the book, especially when she wakes up from sleeping on the bed, there is a lot of excitement in the tone. Rachel's writing style is quite simplified, and other than the interesting names for other princess we meet along the way, it is a pretty simple read. This award-winning picture book opens the reader's eyes to new cultures, while at the same time creating a happy feeling from the outcome of the book. This is a great book to keep in your classroom or to read to your kids, and I would definitely recommend this as a way to introduce new cultures to kids.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Princess and the Pea was the very first play I ever saw. (This momentous event happened soon after my parents attended the play The Sound of Music with Mary Martin and didn’t take me, a five year old, because the play was about Nazis. They got there and saw a bunch of little kids my age in the audience. Out of guilt I suppose, they bought me the record album. The kids on the record album cover looked as though they were having so much fun that I begged incessantly to attend the play but I was always refused. But that’s another story.) Anyway, since then, I’ve always been particularly fond of Hans Christian Anderson’s story of The Princess and the Pea, and I’ve just noticed that there are many books based on this story. I now want to read a bunch of them.

This particular book has an African motif. The colorful illustrations are beautifully done. The telling of the tale wasn’t as magical or as fully detailed as I’d like, but it was interesting and a bit out of the ordinary which I enjoyed.

I love it when there’s a bit of educational material in a fictional book or a children’s picture book. In the back of this book is included three ways to say hello in Africa: in Amharic from Ethiopia, in Somali from Somalia, and in Swahili from Kenya.

[Cris Ingram · Rating 3 out of 5]

African version of the story of the Prince traveling the world to find a Princess. They come to a village and there is a princess standing at the gate, wet from the rain. He brings her to their tents and have her sleep on 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds with a pea underneath them. When she awakes, says she is black and blue from sleeping on this bed. So they knew she was a princess. The Princess and the Prince got married and the pea was put in a museum.

Colorful pictures and easy reading.

[Kirsty Cabot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a great book to show children like my own that princes and princesses aren’t always “Disney”. The illustrations are beautiful. A great way to open conversations about race. It also introduces saying hello in 3 African languages which was brill.

Dropped a star because the fairy tale itself isn’t great, a prince going out looking for a princess until he finds the one that pleases him most, the mum tests her to make sure she meets the right standard. I like to think that the marriage was on mutual agreement.

[Courtnee (MB) Anderson]

Text to Text
The Princess and the Pea reminds me of the wonderful story of Cinderella. Both books are fantasy fiction that have been retold over and over again with only minor changes, but the theme and main idea stay the same. Both books share the same story of a prince searching for his princess with hopes that she can either fit into a shoe or like The Princess and the Pea that she can sleep on a bed and feel the pea underneath her sheets.

[Nathan Bartos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my Storytelling class.
A pretty straightforward retelling of the tale set in Africa with "hello" featured in a few languages native to parts of Africa. I'm not sure I feel great about the author being an American white woman when the point of this book is show an African setting.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely retelling of the old tale, with all the original elements and the addition of African illustrations and words. My 3yo was fascinated and keeps asking for this one!

[Villain E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a good retelling, imo. A prince travels around looking for a princess. He meets some ladies he considers to be fake princesses, but no criteria is given. Then a princess, travelling alone, arrives at his home. The queen puts a pea under a pile of mattresses without explaining why beforehand. You know the rest.

[R. L. Peterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just didn't like it. At all.

[Jemma Torres]

Mattresses , a pea, and a Princess

[Alexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

hits the usual princess and the pea tropes, but with an african twist. african names, words, illustration style, etc :)

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute African influenced retelling of the traditional fairy tale.

[Sawyer Putman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic story with gorgeous illustrations. Set in Africa. Loved it

[Maggie Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isadora’s retelling sets the story in Africa, with colorful patterns, fabrics, and landscapes that make it stand out.

[Ellice · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting Afrocentric retelling of the classic fairy tale. The collage-ish illustrations were nice, but I sometimes found them a little overly chaotic.

[Margaret Tierney]

Loved the illustrations but did not love this traditional take, I was hoping for something a little different than the tale I've already heard.

[Megan Zebell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairy Tale
2nd-3rd grade reading level
I found this book interesting to read. I'm vaguely familiar with this fairy tale story and I found it interesting that this version took place in a different country. I find that to be intriguing because the pictures within the story can give students an idea of what people wore in that part of the country and how they spoke in that location. Although it was interesting, it was not my favorite book.

[Ms. Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite fairy tale. I love to read every rendition I can find. I like that this one has several languages spoken by my students too.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Princess and the Pea written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora is based in Africa and on a true story. The text used in the story resembled the native language and was even drawn as “ spoke words” on the page. An example of this would be when the women would say hello to the prince or “ Selam, Jambo, Habari” which is connected to the culture of the land. The story is told in the viewpoint of the prince as opposed to the traditional way of the princess. We see the prince’s journey to finding himself a wife. The author extends the plot by having the princess lay on twenty mattresses to see if she will notice that there is a pea in one of the layers. This the prince says will prove to him if she is worthy of being his wife. When the author wrote “ There was something about each princess that was not quite right, so the prince came home again and was sad”. We, as readers, can assume from reading that text that the prince was disappointed/sad at that point of finding his future wife, feeling hopeless. This book took my emotions for a whirl, I was sad when the prince felt hopeless in his search for a wife and happy when he found his bride after traveling the world looking for her.
The way Isadora used watercolor painting and non defined lines in this book, created a beautiful touch on African culture. The orange, yellow, and brown on the clothing resembles traditional African clothing and made me happy to see that an illustrator would add that special touch to the artwork in the book. The variety of shapes in the book caught my attention as well, some were small and others were drawn for the reader to pay attention to detail. For example, the shapes on the clothing represent the symbols of the tribes and the oval jewelry that African women wear on their necks and hands. The background of the book remained white while the other drawings on the page were used with bright colors to focus the attention on what was going on in that scene of the story. I also think the illustrator wanted the focus to be on the color and patterns on the clothing, jewelry, and hats worn by the characters. The drawings starting from left to right indicated the flow of the story, and if even there were no words on the page I would be able to know what was going on from the direction the pictures were being drawn. The illustrator used layering on the clothing starting with the traditional colors of yellow, orange, and brown then adding detail by including the patterns that were significant to the tribe, and even on the mattresses there were different patterns from polka dots to zebra stripes to reflect the African culture.

[Esmeralda Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An folktale take from Hans Christian Anderson and set in Africa. The prince set to find a princess. He travels and greets each prospect in their own language. He was not impressed with princesses of his travel. He goes home and on a stormy night is visted by a princess in need of shelter. The queen mother decides to test to see if the girl is a true princess and places a pea under 20 mattress and 20 feather beds. The next day when asked if she slept well she replies that she didn’t because of a lump in the bed. The queen declares her to be a true princess because one a true princess would be able to feel the bump. The prince marries the princess and the pea is displayed for all too see. The illustration by Rachel Isadora creates oil paintings on printed and palette paper that give it a collage style feel. The illustrations are visually vibrant and features an rich hues and intricate patterns.

THEMES:, Character and Values

TEKS:
§110.11. English Language Arts and Reading, Kindergarten, Beginning with School Year 2009-2010.

(b) Knowledge and skills.
(6) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(A)identify elements of a story including setting, character, and key events;
(B)discuss the big idea (theme) of a well-known folktale or fable and connect it to personal experience;
(C) recognize sensory details; and
(D)  recognize recurring phrases and characters in traditional fairy tales, lullabies, and folktales from various cultures

[Ch_ebonysmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this version of the Princess and the Pea, the story takes place in Africa. The prince is looking for a wife and travels all around to find one that is worthy. Finally, on a stormy night a girl comes and reveals she is a true princess. Before accepting anyone, the Queen (his mother) has a plan of her own. She has a test to see if she is a true princess.
She gets twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. She places an ordinary pea under them to see if the princess would feel it because only a true princess "could be as sensitive as that". Well, the princess retires for the night and finds it a rough night. The princess found it hard to sllep. The next morning, they ask how her night was and she told them about something hard that she lied on all night "Iam black and blue all over". Well, after that, they knew she was in deed a true princess. The prince took her to be his wife. This is a fun story for children of all ages.

I learned about the different ways to introduce children to traditional literature with an appropriate book. I really liked that the characters were African because many stories (original versions) are usually caucasin characters. Even her hair is styled in a culture way. Also, the main character skintone is darker. In many stories, the characters (even black characters tend to have long hair and lighter skintones. Because the story takes in Africa the characters are wearing African clothing.

[Marlee Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
The Princess and the Pea tells the story of a young prince who is desperate to find his wife, another princess. Through many trials and meeting many women, the prince and his family become discouraged. On a stormy night, a princess arrives and faces the test of the pea.

Evaluation:
This book is focused on the original story of the The Princess and the Pea but gives a twist to tell the story of an African princess. The book has the same storyline as the original story, but the characters, location and setting have changed to align with the culture in which the story is told. It provides the same story, but with new aspects to demonstrate the difference of cultures, such as hair, clothing and background. The book also had words written in African on the pages, which did not translate.

Teaching Ideas:
I would use this book to introduce to the students different regions of the world and their cultures. I would use this book for a integrated lesson of Social Studies and English. I would use this book to introduce different parts of the world and how their culture is different than the known of the United States. I would use this lesson for an upper grades in Elementary school, such as 3rd thru 5th. I would have the students compare the language and culture of this book to things they are familiar with within their life and community.

[Tara Goolsby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this story a 3 out of 5. I felt this story had a good theme of never judging people by their appearance. The Princess and the Pea effectively employed the color to establish the tone and setting of the narrative. Warm hues are used throughout the entire book. The story seems to be set in an earlier era because of the colors. The hue also represents the story's culture. The use of texture in this narrative is excellent. Every article of clothing appears distinctive throughout the novel thanks to its patterns and lines. Each page, in my opinion, added a texture that you can both see and feel. The graphics in this narrative include thin, seemingly carefully-placed lines that give them a distinctive look. To give the image a more realistic appearance, the lines are also not exactly straight. Another component of this tale takes shape. The plot rarely contains standard shapes like squares and circles, as far as I can tell. This narrative uses lines in an original way to create shapes. The story's structure gives the impression that the characters occupy the center of each page. To give the image a more realistic appearance, the lines are also not exactly straight. Another component of this tale takes shape. The plot rarely contains standard shapes like squares and circles, as far as I can tell. This narrative uses lines in an original way to create shapes. The story's structure gives the impression that the characters occupy the center of each page.

[Esther Moss]

Book title: The princess and the pea
Reading level: I couldn't find one online, but based on my analysis of the words in the book, I would say it is at around an i or j guided reading level and would be appropriate for advanced kinder, at-level first graders, or at-level-to-struggling second graders.
Grade interest level: pre-school through 2nd grade

Book summary: In this African retelling of the class Princess and the Pea tale, a prince travels far and wide to find the "just right" princess for him.

Genre: multicultural literature - this book takes a classic tale and puts it in a multicultural and international setting.

Mentor traits: Conventions. The words and organization of this book is very simple. Since it is a familiar yet interesting story, it is the perfect text to model sentence structure, punctuation, and capital letters.

Classroom integration: I would love to read this book to young students and have them do a story retelling. Or, I could talk about how this is a version of a classic tale that takes place in a new setting. Then, I could ask the students to work on drawing and writing a new version of a story they know well. Perhaps a student would write a version of the classic Jan Brett novel, The Mitten, that takes place in South Minneapolis instead of rural Scandinavia :)

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This African retelling of the classic fairy tale is beautifully illustrated and simply told. Isadora incorporates a variety of African cultures into the story, including greetings in Swahili, Somali, and Amharic. I can't get over the pictures: Like Eric Carle (but more layered and complex), they are created out of a variety of paper collages, with vibrant colors, patterns, and textures - it's almost like they move and have depth! I appreciate the simplicity of the text because for some reason, it's incredibly difficult to find simple versions of fairy tales and folk tales. Most are extremely long and detailed, and aren't suitable for preschoolers, even though the plot itself is right up their alley. Isadora keeps the magical ending firmly in the realm of "what if?" and doesn't try to explain away any of the more fun elements, as opposed to some versions that describe complex plots to let the princess in on that pea under her mattresses.

Aside from the potential of art projects based around the illustrations, concepts of African culture and greetings in other languages, the concept of the twenty mattresses allows for some counting exercises as well, helping students really understand just how many twenty mattresses is! A fun story on its own, but a lot of great activities are possible too.