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THE PRINCESS AND THE GRAIN OF RICE

Name: THE PRINCESS AND THE GRAIN OF RICE
Author: Tina Cho
ISBN: 9780374392253

by Tina Cho ; illustrated by Honee Jang ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 10, 2026

A solid entry in the princess genre, elevated by its representation of Korean culture.

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This retelling of “The Princess and the Pea” draws from history to imagine a new story about a real monarch from 18th-century Korea, in the midst of the country’s centuries-long Joseon period.

The crown prince’s mother, the queen, will select his bride, and she arranges for her son’s potential wives to undergo three challenges. Young Jeongsoon is a bit awkward and clumsy, but she’s long dreamed of being a princess—and bringing aid to the hungry children of her village. When she’s invited to compete, she’s thrilled. She falters during the Manners Test but advances to the Wisdom Test. Her sincere response pleases the queen, and Jeongsoon alone is selected for the final challenge, the Sleep Test. Here, Cho replaces the familiar pea with a single grain of rice and adds a sweet little mouse to further complicate matters. Jang’s vibrant digital art depicts lush palace grounds, richly colored hanboks, and a royal wedding befitting a princess, all while firmly anchoring the story in Korean history. Young readers will delight in seeing Jeongsoon prevail; her triumph will feel especially poignant for those who share her cultural background. While Cho doesn’t interrogate the concept of arranged marriages or the age gap between the real-life Queen Jeongsoon and King Yeongjo (she was a young teen, while he was 64), she does emphasize that it is Jeongsoon’s inner beauty, warmth, and wisdom that make her fit to be a monarch.

A solid entry in the princess genre, elevated by its representation of Korean culture. (author’s note, information on the true story, photographs of the author and her family visiting Queen Jeongsoon’s burial site) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026

ISBN: 9780374392253

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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GOD'S LITTLE OCEANOGRAPHER
by Tina Cho ; illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns

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THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW
by Tina Cho ; illustrated by Deb JJ Lee

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)