The Princess and the Peas and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert and Travis Foster

The Princess and the Peas and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert and Travis Foster
Buy The Princess and the Peas and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert and Travis Foster at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: An interesting, modern twist on the classic fairytale story of the Princess and the Pea.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 40	Date: January 2013
Publisher: Blue Apple Books
ISBN: 978-1609052508
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Rosebud is a good girl, for the most part, neat and tidy and a happy little girl, at which times her daddy calls her Good Princess Rosebud. But then sometimes things go a little bit wrong, or they aren't quite as Rosebud likes them, so perhaps there's a hole in her tights or snow in her boots or, heavens above, her peas are touching her carrots on the plate at dinner time! When this happens Rosebud becomes Princess Fussy and my, doesn't everyone know about it!

I've come across quite a large number of toddlers who seem to develop OCD sometime around the age of 18 months, and it often stays with them right through until they start school, or even later in some cases! There are many little ones who can't bear certain foods to touch each other on a plate, or who will scream the house down if their vest is on inside out and the label is scratching their neck, or who will go into meltdown over the wrong kind of toothpaste, a toy being put back on the wrong shelf...well, you get the idea! Maybe you have one of these monsters of your own! If so then you, at least, will get a kick out of this story, and hopefully they will enjoy it too!

Rosebud isn't really a princess. You can see from the pictures that she's a normal little girl, growing up in a normal family, and she has just been nicknamed a princess by her family because she likes things to be 'just so'. One day Rosebud gets her dinner and discovers that the peas were touching the carrots, the chicken was on top of the mashed potatoes, and the gravy was touching everything! This is unacceptable for Princess Fussy and so she pushes her plate away and it lands on the floor! Oh my! Rosebud is sent off to her room where she goes into complete meltdown, kicking and screaming and throwing things...basically demonstrating every parent's worst nightmare tantrum! Fortunately Rosebud's mother is one of those nice, forgiving ones, and she says if Rosebud calms down then she'll come in and help her to tidy up.

Later Rosebud's dad comes in to read her a bedtime story, and the story he chooses to read is The Princess and the Pea. After the story Rosebud tries very hard to get to sleep, but she tosses and turns and finally has to get out of bed to get her daddy. She tells him there's a lump in her bed and, guess what? They find a little green marble in there, hidden away. And who else but a real princess could have felt that?!

This is a sweet story, and I like the way it is tied to the familiar classic fairy tale. The old fairytale is included within the book too, as special fold-out pages so that you can see the tale as the daddy tells it to Rosebud which is a nice touch. All of the illustrations are done very well, and seem to compliment the style of the story. I liked how many cuddly toys Rosebud has lined up on her bed - it reminded me of my own bed many, many years ago! I also liked the tantrum pages which I thought were very authentic! Overall it's an enjoyable tale, more suited to little girls than little boys I'd have thought, although I expect smaller toddlers won't mind either way, and it makes a nice bedtime read since after all the tantrum excitement, Rosebud does fall asleep calmly and quietly in the end.

For a nice look at some traditional tales try The Orchard Book Of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales by Martin Waddell and Emma Chichester Clark and you might also enjoy reading I Don't Want To Be A Pea! by Ann Bonwill and Simon Rickerty

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Princess and the Peas and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert and Travis Foster at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Princess and the Peas and Carrots by Harriet Ziefert and Travis Foster at Amazon.com.

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