The princess and the pea by Rachel Isadora

A simplified version of the tale in which a girl proves that she is a real princess by feeling a pea through twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds.

Absolutely gorgeous illustrations. The story is a very stripped-down version of the classic fairytale/folktale, which may be a good thing if the kids are the questioning type or if you are good at asking questions of the kids to involve them in the story.

This a great book to show children like my own that princes and princesses aren't always “Disney”. The illustrations are beautiful. A great way to open conversations about race. It also introduces saying hello in 3 African languages which was brill.

Dropped a star because the fairy tale itself isn't great, a prince going out looking for a princess until he finds the one that pleases him most, the mum tests her to make sure she meets the right standard. I like to think that the marriage was on mutual agreement.