Princess Pigtoria And The Pea
PreSchool-Grade 3—Princess Pigtoria is poor, and her palace is a pigsty. Perhaps if she can marry a prince, he will make it pretty again. But Prince Proudfoot is not polite. Unknown to her, he has placed a pea under her pillows to test her princess properties. Before bed, hungry Pigtoria orders a pizza and parties with the delivery pig and the kitchen staff. She dances and eats so much that she is kept awake by a persistent prickling of crumbs. Of course, Prince Proudfoot is pleased and confesses his deed. Pigtoria is not impressed. No pompous prince will win her heart. She prefers Percy-the-Pizza-Pig. They marry and open a successful chain of pizza parlors. Prepare to pucker as you read aloud page after page of words that begin with the letter "p." Cole's watercolor cartoons heighten the silliness of this very distant take on "The Princess and the Pea," but the story is a bit of a "boar." The persistent alliteration becomes cumbersome, and the tale just doesn't hold up to the intended frivolity. Readers may enjoy the menagerie of palace personnel, including potato-peeling cockroaches, but the ending may elicit a questionable look from those who forgot that the story briefly featured a pea.—C. J. Connor, Campbell County Public Library, Cold Spring, KYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.