Princess and the Pea by Carol Ottolenghi

Before paternity or DNA tests, and in an age when kings – fathers of princesses, in other words – found it as easy to get themselves killed in battle as to sire a daughter, it was probably a tricky business trying to ascertain your bride-to-be’s credentials in the blue-blood department.

This title, retold in English and Spanish, is an excellent skill-builder for reading and foreign language comprehension. One explanation is that the story is about the importance of a prince making a good marriage, to a woman of royal blood who came from good ‘stock’. In the beloved tale The Princess and the Pea, the princess must prove that she is dainty enough to marry the prince Children will eagerly continue reading to see if the princess can sleep on top of 20 mattresses. Princess and the Pea by Carol Ottolenghi, 2012, Carson-Dellosa Publishing, LLC edition, in English. But what, then, might the true meaning of the tale be? A story that goes back to India almost a thousand years ago (and that’s only the earliest one we know about: many fairy tales have the ring of oral culture about them, and oral literature is notoriously good at getting itself lost down the centuries) surely has more importance than warnings about maintaining a tidy valance or laughter about how the royals are a bunch of pernickety wusses farther removed from the sufferings of ordinary people than a Martian holidaying on Pluto. Princess and the Pea Carol Ottolenghi (Retelling) 3.50 26 ratings1 review Want to read Buy on Amazon Rate this book Between the pages of the Brighter Child(R) Keepsake Stories books are the classic tales of magic, imagination, and inspiration that will delight children again and again.