The Princess and the Pea

by Hans Christian Andersen, Maja Dusikova (Illustrator)

Overview

A young girl feels a pea through twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds and proves that she is a real princess.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782509394
Publisher:	Floris Books
Publication date:	09/09/2025
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.60(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805, in Odense, Denmark. A prolific writer, Andersen is best known for his fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages. By the time he died in Copenhagen in 1875, his work was known all over the world.

Date of Birth:

April 2, 1805

Date of Death:

August 4, 1875

Place of Birth:

Odense, Denmark

Place of Death:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Editorial Reviews

'Dusíková's pictures are full of soft edges and soft colours... A rendering to bring a smile or possibly a giggle.'—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

This unadorned translation of Andersen's whimsical tale comes from a German edition of 2007. The pictures are pellucid: Readers see the prince coming home laden with paintings of various princesses who do not fit the bill. They see why on the next page: One princess is sticking out her tongue, and another is picking her nose, and so on. 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. 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. 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 ends with the puckish (and traditional) lines: "The pea was put in a museum, where it may still be seen. 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. A rendering to bring a smile or possibly a giggle. (Picture book/fairy tale. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews