the princess and the pea by hans christian andersen

The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.Īlthough the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.Īn all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. And that is a true story.” Dusíková’s pictures are full of soft edges and soft colors, with pretty architectural details and an assortment of castle denizens, including a pair of cats and a toddler in jester’s motley.Ī rendering to bring a smile or possibly a giggle.Ī collection of parental wishes for a child. It ends with the puckish (and traditional) lines: “The pea was put in a museum, where it may still be seen. Our heroine wakes to complain that she barely slept and is “black and blue all over!” The prince knows then he has found a real princess, and a wedding ensues. It is the queen who places a single pea on the bedframe and orders the 20 mattresses and 20 quilts to be laid atop it. The king and queen are playing chess on that dark and stormy night when there is a knock at the door, and it is the king himself who trundles down the castle stairs, candle and key in hand, to let in a very damp and bedraggled princess. They see why on the next page: One princess is sticking out her tongue, and another is picking her nose, and so on.

The pictures are pellucid: Readers see the prince coming home laden with paintings of various princesses who do not fit the bill. This unadorned translation of Andersen's whimsical tale comes from a German edition of 2007.

The princess and the pea by hans christian andersen