retold by Dandi of the Fairy Tale Classics
no illustrator noted
Publication Date: 1996
Publisher: Landoll Inc.
ISBN #: 1-56987-514-6
Brief Summary: This is a classic fairy tale about a princess who seeks shelter from a storm in another castle. In this castle is a prince who falls in love with this princess and his mother and father (the king and queen). The queen tries to prove that this girl was not a princess by sticking a pea under her mattress but her plan failed and the prince and princess lived happily ever after.
Rating: 3 crowns
Evaluation: I know this story well and enjoyed reading it again after many years. This book really is a classic and timeless fairy-tale. The idea that a princess can feel a pea under her mattress while a "peasant" cannot is a completely unrealistic idea. However, I think that is why this story is considered a "fairy-tale". Much like David Wiesner's illustrations, the plot and story line are out of this world and magical. I also noted that the words were all rhyming. This makes it easier for young children to read. One thing I thought was interesting was the way the characters were drawn, especially the princess. They had realistic curves and were more on the chubby side. They were not unrealistically skinny the way princesses are drawn in today's movies, TV shows and children's books. This shows the difference in the 90's idea of a princess compared to today's view of what a princess should look like. I think this is a very good message to children (especially little girls) that they can still be beautiful like a princess and not be super skinny.
1996:
VS.
2015:
Is the movie Tangled based off of this original book?! I had no idea what the original story was if so. It's funny that Tangled was developed from less and really shows how different generations can take an idea and transform it this way.
ReplyDeleteno, I just used the two pictures to demonstrate how the world used to view princesses vs how they view them today. As you can see from the later picture, the princess is more curvey and all around more realistic looking. Today, we portray princess at an unrealistic weight without any flaws. It is my opinion that we need to get back to portraying the characters in books and movies that children look up to in a more realistic way.
ReplyDelete