The Princess and the Pea

Isadora, Rachel. 2007. The Princess and the Pea.

I don't know about you, but I always love a good fairy tale. I love new picture book editions of favorite stories. Each illustrator, each author, tackles the subject differently. Each has a different vision, a different imagining of the story, the characters, the setting. The Princess And The Pea uses the familiar story but places the setting in Africa. There is still a prince looking for a princess to marry. There is still the princess-who-doesn't-look-like-a-real-princess who shows up in the midst of a storm. There is still the testing by pea to see if the princess is a really real princess. There is still a happily ever after ending. But the art, the illustrations, definitely give you a different feel than what you may be used to. Most of the story, as I said earlier, is traditional. But there are three foreign words...three ways to say hello in Africa. Selam (Ethiopia; Amharic), Iska Waran (Somalia; Somali), Jambo, Habari (Kenya; Swahili). Overall, I liked this one a good deal.