Individual Fairy Tales, Fairy Tales & Folklore - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - Animals - Marine Life, Fiction - Animals - Birds, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous

The Penguin and the Pea

Name: The Penguin and the Pea
Author: Janet Perlman
ISBN: 9781553379836

by Janet Perlman

Write a review

Overview

Sad and lonely, the Penguin Prince longs to find the perfect penguin princess to be his wife. Then one stormy night, a wet and bedraggled penguin arrives at the castle claiming to be a princess. The prince falls deeply in love with the beautiful and mysterious stranger. But is she really a princess? In this sparkling and whimsical retelling of The Princess and the Pea, there's only one sure way to find out.

Synopsis

In Janet Perlman’s whimsically “penguinized” retelling of the classic tale, there’s only one sure way to find out if a mysterious stranger really is a princess.

Publishers Weekly

Janet Perlman gives readers another penguin-populated fairy tale in The Penguin and the Pea. In a land where even the horses are just four-legged (web-footed) penguins, a blond prince and his family seek the perfect mate. When a bedraggled penguin claiming to be a princess steals the prince's affections, the Queen must know if she is truly royal-using a cabbage (rather than a pea) as the test. Perlman's visual details inject plenty of additional humor. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Janet Perlman

Janet Perlman lives in Montreal, and is a director of award-winning animated films. She has written and illustrated several children's books, including "Cinderella Penguin", which is based on one of her films which was nominated for an Oscar?.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature

Penguin Prince was sad and lonely and yearned to marry but finding his true princess was a difficult task. He traveled all over looking for her but there was always something missing and he was not impressed by any one. He was heartbroken thinking that he would never meet the princess of his dreams. On a dark stormy night there was a loud noise at the castle gate. It was a female penguin—wet, muddy and miserable—whose carriage had broken down and needed help. As pitiful as she looked, she claimed to be a real princess. The visitor intrigued the Prince and they found that they enjoyed one another's company. They talked and laughed and fell in love. The Queen, however, did not believe their visitor was a princess and decided for the sake of her son to put her to the test. Was there a happy ending? Did she pass the test? Young readers will enjoy this fun and fanciful tale. 2004, Kids Can Press, Ages 5 to 8.
—Michele Wilbur

Kirkus Reviews

More "flappily ever after" from the author of Cinderella Penguin (1992). As before, Perlman stays fairly close to the original tale, adding minor changes and wordplay suggested by the cast's transformation into penguins-depicted in cartoon illustrations as tubby figures in courtly dress, with big white eyes over carrot-like beaks. The joke was funny once, not so much twice, though younger readers unfamiliar with the previous remake, or its film version, may find it droll. Alain Vaes reworks the Andersen tale more imaginatively in his Princess and the Pea (2001) and Mini Grey tells it from the pea's point of view in a much cleverer twist called The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-Be (2003). (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)

Quill & Quire

Perlman’s animation-style illustrations, drawn by hand in ink, then computer-coloured, create a vibrant cartoon kingdom of penguin characters that are expressive and likeable. Her first fairy tale picture book, Cinderella Penguin, presented more opportunity for bird-related puns and props (such as the “glass flipper”), but this retelling is still loads of fun with its avian spin on a classic story and its “flappily ever after” ending.