ALA Booklist

In this twist on a classic fairy tale, Prince Henrik is looking to meet his princess, and she needs to have three qualifications: "like hockey and camping and have a nice smile." The search proves challenging, so he turns to his brother, Prince Hans, for advice. Hans' "sensitive" (euphemism for high-maintenance) wife, Princess Eva, revealed herself to be a true princess when she felt the pea Hans had placed under a stack of twenty mattresses and twenty eiderdown quilts. But Henrik is seeking the anti-Eva, so he places a pack of frozen peas under a single, thin mattress; the noncomplainer is the girl for him. Pippa, Henrik's close friend and fellow ice-hockey fan, is put to the frozen-pea challenge, and she finds them useful had a bit of a sore shin from playing hockey." The illustrations, rendered in collage, gouache, and pencil, lend additional quirkiness to an already eccentric story, with humorous touches like Henrik's sporty headband. Frankly, it's refreshing to see a gap-toothed commoner score the crown.

Horn Book

Prince Henrik doesn't want to marry a fussy girly-girl like his sister-in-law. His princess test involves a camping mat, a sleeping bag, and "a whole packet of frozen peas." When his hockey-playing friend Pippa has a good nights sleep, Henrik knows he's found his match. The collage, gouache, and pencil illustrations verge on unattractive, but they suit this playful fairy tale.

Kirkus Reviews

In this contemporary version of "The Princess and the Pea," Prince Henrik knows what he wants in a future bride and devises the right test to find her. Prince Henrik longs to "fall in love and get married," but his future bride must share his zeal for hockey and camping. Henrik's brother, Prince Hans, advises a "real princess" should be so sensitive she will complain about sleeping on a single pea placed under "a stack of twenty mattresses and twenty eiderdown quilts." Hans' wife, Princess Eva, passed this time-honored test, but when Henrik observes whiney Eva, he knows he wants the exact opposite. Eschewing stacks of mattresses, eiderdown quilts and the single pea, Henrik opts to test aspiring princesses with an old sleeping bag, a thin camping mattress and a packet of frozen peas. No girl tolerates sleeping on peas until Henrik's "outdoorsy" pal Pippa arrives. After a day of sports, Pippa sleeps "fantastically well," using the frozen peas as an ice pack for her sore shin. Relying on pattern, line and pale colors, the naively stylized pencil, gouache and collage illustrations subvert proportions and perspectives, adding to the whimsical tenor of this droll tale of a savvy prince who finds the perfect partner. A must for would-be princesses. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Prince Henrik yearns for a girl who likes hockey and camping, but his older brother, Hans, insists that only a -real- princess who-s -very beautiful and very sensitive- will do. Someone like Hans-s wife, Eva, who passed the pea-under-the-mattresses-test with flying colors, but whose sensitivity really amounts to being a self-important whiner. Will Henrik find true love with his own version of the test, which involves frozen peas and a sleeping bag? And will anyone be surprised that the winner is his old pal Pippa, who-s sporty but not posh and -has a lovely gap between her two front teeth-? This story has indie rom-com written all over it (think The Royal Tenenbaums). Whether children warm to the book-s laid-back vibe, Wilson-s reportorial prose and deGennaro-s hipster naïf sketches give this tale of unconventional princes and princesses an authenticity that not all stories in this mold possess. There are plenty of boys who would enjoy hanging out with gangly, always-game Pippa, and just as many girls who would be happy to emulate her. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3 Prince Henrik, a younger brother of the prince from "The Princess and the Pea," is looking for a bride. There's only one problemthough gaggles of flower-throwing girls pursue him, he has difficulty choosing "the one." Soliciting his older brother Hans's advice, he's told that the most important qualities in a "real princess" are beauty and sensitivity, as revealed by the old pea-under-the-mattress test. As he observes Hans's wife, he discovers that "sensitive" really means whiny and demanding and wisely decides that he doesn't wants a "real princess" but instead a girl with a nice smile who would share his interests. As his test, he uses a camping mattress, a sleeping bag, and a packet of frozen peas, getting rid of many bewildered girls. His quest concludes happily when his friend Pippa comes to stay and passes the test with flying colors. DeGennaro's sparely drawn cartoon characters delight with their expressiveness, perfectly complementing Wilson's snarky humor. It's hard not to laugh at the depiction of Hans's snidely sneering spouse "being sensitive about the tennis balls" when they are "too bouncy." Whimsical details are scattered throughout the bookthe prince snoozing with field hockey trophies, his sleeping bag covered with "Zs," and, of course, green peas on nearly every page. A lighthearted modern take on the familiar fairy tale, this would be a welcome addition to most collections.— Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY