This book is a great example of a fractured fairy tale or a fairy tale that has been modified to make readers laugh at unexpected characterization, plots or points of view. In this comical story, Princess Paulina competes in a contest to become the wife of Prince Drupert. Throughout the story, there are references to well-known fairy tales, like The Princess and the Pea and Cinderella. As part of the contest, the Princess makes a delicious pizza to impress the Queen. She ultimately wins, but decides she doesn't really want to marry the Prince after all! Instead, she opens Paulina's Pizza Palace and life is good. As a reader, I really enjoyed the modern take on this story and that Paulina was able to recognize fairy tale similarities and made comments like "t
hat’s so once-upon-a-time.” The illustrations were comical as well and portrayed the characters as larger than life with exaggerated features. As a teacher, it would be fun to read The Princess and the Pea and then this story to younger students and then have them compare and contrast the two. You could also ask students to name the other fairy tales referenced in the story (i.e. glass slipper = Cinderella or Princess with long hair = Rapunzel). In addition, students could brainstorm alternative endings or create a class list of pros and cons of being a Prince or Princess.
No comments:
Post a Comment