The Princess and the Frozen Peas

July 1, 2014

Gr 1-2-Another twist on a familiar fairy tale. When a grumpy, old king calls for the princess's hand in marriage, her servants are instructed to prove she is a real princess. With just one pea under her mattress, the cunning, real princess pretends to sleep soundly all night in order to dissuade her suitor. The servants try again to keep the princess from sleeping with bags and bags of frozen peas. Again, she "sleeps" all night. The servants then try a pirate, panda, a peacock, and some porcupines between her mattresses, and still the exhausted princess pretends to sleep. The king calls off the wedding, proclaiming, "She's not a princess!" She can finally get a good night's sleep. Colorful and concise cartoon illustrations help readers to understand the princess's crafty plan.-Lindsay Persohn, University of South Florida, Tampa

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