What do you think?
Rate this book
The Princess and the Pea: From a Story by Hans Christian Andersen
A young girl feels a pea through many mattresses and proves she is a real princess.
- GenresChildrens
Library Binding
4 people want to read
About the author
Dick Gackenbach
82 books9 followersDick Gackenbach, the illustrator of all the Adam Joshua Capers, is also the author-illustrator of more than a score of books of his own. Mr. Gackenbach lives in Washington Depot, Connecticut.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 11, 2014
The Princess and the pea
Hans Christian Andersen
This book tells the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy-tale ‘The Princess and the Pea’ in which a young prince seeks to find a ‘real’ princess to marry. When a bedraggled girl knocks on the castle doors amidst a stormy night, the king and queen doubt her claims of being a ‘real’ princess. They decide to put her to the test, placing a pea under twenty mattresses and allowing her to sleep on it. Only a ‘real’ princess would object to such discomfort. In true fairy-tale style, the princess discovers the pea and lives happily ever after with the prince.
The pictures, although somewhat dated, are simple but relative, and accompany the story quite well. Although this book is a very brief take on the classic fairy-tale, I feel it still provides a lot of opportunity for classroom activities.
The language used could inspire an activity on comparatives: ‘One was too tall and another was too small’ and ‘one was too sad and another was too jolly’. Also, the descriptive nature of the language could encourage a class discussion on weather: ‘Then one night there was a terrible storm. The lightening flashed, the thunder roared, the wind blew and the rain poured down’.
I like how the sentences are short and the vocabulary is differentiated, therefore making the book accessible to a range of reading abilities.
I dislike the hierarchical attitudes I feel the book presents, only a ‘real’ princess would be good enough for the prince and only a ‘real’ princess would be tender enough to feel a pea under twenty mattresses.
Overall, I enjoyed re-reading this classic fairy-tale, and feel it is a flexible piece of literature for use in the classroom.
Hans Christian Andersen
This book tells the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy-tale ‘The Princess and the Pea’ in which a young prince seeks to find a ‘real’ princess to marry. When a bedraggled girl knocks on the castle doors amidst a stormy night, the king and queen doubt her claims of being a ‘real’ princess. They decide to put her to the test, placing a pea under twenty mattresses and allowing her to sleep on it. Only a ‘real’ princess would object to such discomfort. In true fairy-tale style, the princess discovers the pea and lives happily ever after with the prince.
The pictures, although somewhat dated, are simple but relative, and accompany the story quite well. Although this book is a very brief take on the classic fairy-tale, I feel it still provides a lot of opportunity for classroom activities.
The language used could inspire an activity on comparatives: ‘One was too tall and another was too small’ and ‘one was too sad and another was too jolly’. Also, the descriptive nature of the language could encourage a class discussion on weather: ‘Then one night there was a terrible storm. The lightening flashed, the thunder roared, the wind blew and the rain poured down’.
I like how the sentences are short and the vocabulary is differentiated, therefore making the book accessible to a range of reading abilities.
I dislike the hierarchical attitudes I feel the book presents, only a ‘real’ princess would be good enough for the prince and only a ‘real’ princess would be tender enough to feel a pea under twenty mattresses.
Overall, I enjoyed re-reading this classic fairy-tale, and feel it is a flexible piece of literature for use in the classroom.
Displaying 1 of 1 review