THE PRINCESS AND THE PUMPKIN

by Maggie Duff ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 4, 1980

Yes, it's pretty wild, even for a fairy tale (come, we're told, from Majorca); but there's good cheer in it, and the fun of not guessing what's coming next. On three successive days, a flock of green birds steals the Princess' golden comb, her emerald band, and a strand of her golden hair. Then she takes to her bed, refusing to be comforted, and it's decreed that whoever can make her laugh will be ""kept in comfort forever."" Enter various aspirants, who predictably fail, and a tottering old Granny, who won't. But it's only by finding and dropping a giant pumpkin, climbing down into the hole that it makes, discovering there a royal feast (not for the likes of her), the green birds in the person of an enchanted, lovelorn Prince and his courtiers--and telling this whole rigamarole to the Princess that the old Granny makes her laugh. Then, of course, the Princess must go down the hole too, where the pastries and sweets are for her (but she gives most of them to the Granny) and the Prince, too, awaits her. Lively, varied drawings, quietly and pleasantly colored, and a slightly different story very deftly told.

Pub Date: Aug. 4, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1980

Categories: CHILDREN'S