La Princesa and the Pea is a bilingual picture book for children, retelling the classic fairy tale The Princess and the Pea with English narration, Spanish words woven into the rhyme, and illustrations inspired by Peruvian culture. Susan Middleton Elya reshapes the familiar story around a prince, a queen with a secret test, and a young girl whose true identity is revealed through wit, sensitivity, and a little palace trickery. The book combines fairy tale, humor, rhyme, and gentle cultural play, making it especially engaging for young readers who are beginning to notice language, sound, and storytelling patterns. Juana Martinez-Neal’s artwork adds a distinctive visual world of textiles, colors, animals, and royal details, turning the story into more than a simple princess tale and leaving open the question of who is really testing whom.
Author: Susan Middleton Elya
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication year: 2017
Number of pages: 32
Original language: English
Target age: 4–8