THE PRINCESS AND THE GRAIN OF RICE

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.