From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3—Princess Pigtoria is poor, and her palace is a pigsty. Perhaps if she can marry a prince, he will make it pretty again. But Prince Proudfoot is not polite. Unknown to her, he has placed a pea under her pillows to test her princess properties. Before bed, hungry Pigtoria orders a pizza and parties with the delivery pig and the kitchen staff. She dances and eats so much that she is kept awake by a persistent prickling of crumbs. Of course, Prince Proudfoot is pleased and confesses his deed. Pigtoria is not impressed. No pompous prince will win her heart. She prefers Percy-the-Pizza-Pig. They marry and open a successful chain of pizza parlors. Prepare to pucker as you read aloud page after page of words that begin with the letter “p.” Cole’s watercolor cartoons heighten the silliness of this very distant take on “The Princess and the Pea,” but the story is a bit of a “boar.” The persistent alliteration becomes cumbersome, and the tale just doesn’t hold up to the intended frivolity. Readers may enjoy the menagerie of palace personnel, including potato-peeling cockroaches, but the ending may elicit a questionable look from those who forgot that the story briefly featured a pea.—C. J. Connor, Campbell County Public Library, Cold Spring, KY
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Here’s a book for people who like the letter p. And pigs. Princess Pigtoria is poor. Her palace is a pigsty. So when she reads a personal ad placed by Prince Proudfoot, she heads off to Porkville to check him out. The prince, it must be said, seems a bit swinish, but Pigtoria likes the palace amenities, especially the pizza delivery. Soon she’s dancing the night away with the pizza guy while the parlor maid pounds the piano. The next morning the princess is peaked. Prince Proudfoot thinks she slept poorly because of the pea he put under her pillow. The old pea trick? Now Pigtoria is pissed. She elopes with Percy the pizza guy, they open a chain of pizzerias, and well, you know the rest. Fun for listeners and readers alike, this features some extremely personable pigs, relatives to DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson in look (only handsomely clothed). The scale of the artwork makes this a good choice for storytime, and afterward kids will be spouting p words of their own. Preschool-Grade 1. –Ilene Cooper
About the Author
HENRY COLE was born on a dairy farm near Purcellville, Virginia, and was an adored elementary-school science teacher for 16 years. He has since illustrated over 80 popular picture books, including the multimillion-selling Moose series and other bestsellers. Mr. Cole has always loved art and science, which has made him a keen observer of details in nature. He now lives in both Florida and Virginia.
Jason Gonzales –
A cute book with a focus on words beginning with p. I would give it 5 stars, but they never show you what that SPOILERS!!! chicken-pig baby looks like in the end.
gardenclown –
I read this to my preschool class and the girls spent many hours playing the dress up game of Princess pigtoria and the pea.
Barbara Miles –
My 5 year old granddaughter and I laugh and laugh when reading this book! It’s a very new take on an old story!
Dena –
Prepare for a parade of the letter P! Princess Pigtoria sets off on the adventure of the Princess and the Pea that uses every possible P word you can think of.It is an adorable picture book about a pig that needs to marry someone to help her fix up her palace. But this story adds a pleasant twist to the traditional tale. The prince turns out to be not so charming, and the pizza pig starts looking pretty perfect.There were a few instances that I thought the use of a P word made a sentence rather awkward. However, the story is very cute and fun to read. It became one of my daughter’s “lovey” books where she dragged it around the house with her, read it 400 times a day, slept with it, ate with it, etc. Her favorite part was when Pigtoria tells Prince Proudfoot that she doesn’t like him!
Ulyyf –
We had a school book fair today, and I got to attend (twice!) with my two nieces. Don’t ask me how much I spent, it’s a little blush-worthy.I had already vetoed several books my older niece picked out (no TV books, no sticker books, no poster books, and no toys which aren’t EVEN books!) so even though I wasn’t feeling very hopeful about this one (The Princess and the Pea has always been among my least-favorite fairy tales) I smiled and burst out with a happy “Sure, why not!” about it.I was pleasantly surprised when I got this book home and had a chance to look at it. This is a very alliterative book (lots of use of the letter P) about impoverished Princess Pigtoria, who thought she might hit it off with the Prince and fix up her falling down castle.He’s a bit of an ass, actually, and when she finds out about the pea trick she does what I’ve always wanted the sappy princess to do in this story – reads him the riot act and dumps him from the pizza boy! So she and the pizza boy get rich selling pizza, and the prince eventually marries the parlor maid and becomes a reformed citizen.Okay, so it’s sillier than it needs to be and the moral is a little hamfisted. (Pun intentional, of course.) It’s still better than I thought.
Oceanside Logophile –
This sweet and humorous alliterative adaption of the Princess and the Pea prominently features the letter P. Pigtoria is a poor princess who plans to go to Porksville to pick a prince. The pompous Prince Proudfoot proposes, but Princess Pigtoria picks Percy-the Pizza-Pig and opens up a profitable pizzeria instead. You may get a bit tongue-tied, but it’s fun to see alliteration used in a traditional story format. Kids will certainly understand the concept of alliteration after reading this or one in the other alliterative titles by this author/illustrator duo.
Owl –
“Princess Pigtoria and the Pea” is a really funny book. The words are funny, the sentences are funny, the situation is funny, and the illustrations get right in the spirit.A poverty stricken Princess answers an advertisement placed by Prince Proudfoot, who while healthy & wealthy, isn’t too wise. He is a boor, in fact, & when Pigtoria finds out about the pea trick, Proudfoot gets what he deserves. Right on, Pigtoria, and we’re glad you are living happily every after with the Pizza Delivery Pig. (NO peppersoni!).The story tumbles all over itself with “p” alliteration. When the “P’s” pale, the story can be retold just splendidly with an “s” (for “swine”) or whatever letter the lucky young’uns to whom you may be reading will choose.Any negatives? A few. Pigtoria is a tad materialistic and not necessarily an ideal guest even if she is visiting a castle with servants galore. Proudfoot doesn’t get a chance to explain his rationale for bride-selection. And one pea seems frugal fare for four mice.For me, however, these are not show-stoppers; they just add more paths to talking about the story. At low used book prices, some readers may be pleased indeed to find yet another support for helping young ladies have high self-respect and young gentlemen to become less like Georgie Porgy and more pleasant people—highly recommended.
PAULAANDCHUCK –
“Beware!!” Your little girl is going to want you to read this book to her, over and over again!! My 3yr old has my husband and I read this to her at bedtime, all the time. It is a really cute story and their are a lot of words that start with “P”. So warning!, if you are a parent reading this book completely exhausted, it will be a tongue twister story for you 🙂
R. Sweetland –
Alliteration with pigs and of course the letter P. From the point in the story when poor Princess Pigtoria decides to solve her poor painted house problem through marriage and sets out to Porkville to find a Nice Pig Prince my opinion of the story began to deteriorate. I continued to read hoping Princess Pigtoria would realize she didn’t need a significant other to solve her problems, but alas I was disappointed. In the end she does marry I imagine for love, Percy the Pizza Delivery Pig, but alas he paints her castle. The illustrations are well done and attempt to bring life and color to a poorly constructed story.
Hummingbird –
Hilarious Princess Pigtoria and the Pea
I love this book and my English students really enjoyed listening to, reading and acting out the story. The illustrations are fabulous.