THE VERY SMART PEA AND THE PRINCESS-TO-BE

At last, the silent participant in the tale of the Princess and the Pea tells its side of the story. Having seen one princess after another come and then, all-too-well-rested, go, the pea decides at last to intervene. Making its way to the top of the pile of mattresses, it whispers into the latest sleeper’s ear for three hours that there’s a “Large and Round and very Uncomfortable” lump in the bed. Gray decorates the rather cozy-looking palace with vegetable-themed furnishings, and the royals, with their sharp noses and pea-green eyes, resemble carved wooden puppets—in contrast to the relieved Prince’s new bride, who (surprise, surprise) turns out to be the fresh-faced young gardener seen working in the background in nearly every previous scene. The pea has eyes but no limbs, which begs the question of just how it made that arduous climb, but makes it easy to track it from pod to palace to final resting place in a museum display case. A rib-tickling US debut for Grey, with plenty of sight gags to complement the chatty narrative. (Picture book/fairy tale. 7-9)