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The Pea and the Princess

by Mini Grey

Interest age: 4+
Reading age: 7+

Published by Random House, 2004

  • Classics
  • Picture books

About this book

This is the real story of the princess and the pea, which recounts events from the Pea’s perspective. The Queen threatens to stop the Prince’s pocket money unless he finds a bride by his 35th birthday, so he frantically starts searching, but none of the Princesses he meets are quite right.

Taking matters into her own hands, the Queen uses the ’true Princess’ test and places the Pea under a mountain of mattresses. However, the well-mannered Princesses who come to stay all claim to have had a good night’s sleep. Realising the Prince will never marry at this rate, the Pea eventually intervenes and saves the day.

Entertaining, colourful illustrations give this tale a contemporary feel.

About the author

Mini Grey was given her name after being born in a mini in a car park in South Wales. After taking a foundation Course in Fine Art, she studied for an English degree at UCL, afterwards working as a theatre designer, then a primary teacher, before studying for an MA in sequential design at Brighton University.

Mini's first picture book for children, Egg Drop, a surreal story of an egg that dreams of being able to fly, was published in 2002. It established her as both a visually exciting illustrator of detailed, colourful artwork and a highly accomplished storyteller, who often narrates from an unusual point of view, such as that of the pea in The Pea and the Princess (2003) (shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway illustration award); the biscuit in Biscuit Bear (2004) - winner of the Nestlé Smarties Gold Prize (under 5s category) - and the spoon in The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon (2006).

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