Little Pea [Hardcover]

Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Author), Jen Corace (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2005 | Age Range: 3 and up

If Little Pea doesn't eat all of his sweets, there will be no vegetables for dessert! What's a young pea to do? Children who have trouble swallowing their veggies will love the way this pea-size picture book serves up a playful story they can relate to.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2–Little Pea is happy. There are many things he likes to do, such as roll down hills and hang out with his friends. There is one thing, though, that he does not like, and that is to eat candy as the main course every night for dinner. He struggles through, reluctantly swallowing not just one piece but five, in order to have his favorite dessert–spinach. This simple story is a twist on the age-old admonishment that children everywhere hear each evening. The ink-and-watercolor illustrations are as spare as the text, featuring a small, yellow-green pea in a loving family. Each uncluttered page has plenty of white space. Picky eaters will enjoy the subtle humor of this topsy-turvy tale.–Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN
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Review

A crowd pleaser in the tradition of Mitchell Sharmat's Gregory, The Terrible Eater (1980), illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey, this simply told and illustrated episode features both a decidedly atypical family (all head, no body) facing a similar dinnertime issue, and a delicious final twist. Little Pea's generally a happy legume, hanging with friends, rolling down hills, and being catapulted off a spoon by Papa Pea--but meals are always fraught, for Little Pea hates candy, which as you know (you didn't?) is all that peas eat. "If you don't finish your candy, you can't have dessert," says Mama Pea. Negotiating his quota down to five cellophane-wrapped pieces, Little Pea proceeds to choke them down--"Three. Plck. Four. Pleh."--then jumps for joy at dessert's arrival--a heaping bowl of spinach. Expect bursts of hilarity from young listeners, picky eaters or no. Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Picky eaters will enjoy the subtle humor of this topsy-turvy tale." School Library Journal

"Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace strike beautiful balance between story and art in 'Little Pea' (2005), a book that pedagogues might point out teaches basic physics and math while poking fun at picky eaters. This critic prefers to describe it as a family portrait of legumes in which the baby has to eat all his candy in order to get spinach for dessert." The New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 36 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (February 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081184658X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811846585
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.4 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Social Skills

More About the Author

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a person who likes to make things.

Some things she likes to make:
Children's books.
Grown-up books.
Short films.
Salads.
Connections with the universe.
Something out of nothing.
Wishes.

According to The New York Times, Amy's award-winning children's books "radiate fun the way tulips radiate spring: they are elegant and spirit-lifting." Her 20+ books for children include !, WUMBERS, PLANT A KISS, LITTLE PEA, SPOON, THE WONDER BOOK, COOKIES: BITE-SIZE LIFE LESSONS, AND DUCK!RABBIT!.

As for her adult work, Amazon named ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE one of the top 10 memoirs of the decade.

A long-time contributor to NPR, she is currently the host and creator of Mission Amy K R.com produced by Chicago Public Radio.

Her short films include The Beckoning of Lovely, 17 Things I Made, ATM Always Trust Magic, The Kindness Thought Bubble, and The Money Tree.

Amy lives with her family in Chicago and online at whoisamy.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars love my little peas August 29, 2005

By New Jersey Mom

Format:Hardcover

Sure, it probably won't get your veggie-hating kid to request spinach at every meal, but the illustrations are adorable, and the storyline, an endearing tale about a little pea whose mom and dad make him finish 5 pieces of candy before he is allowed to eat his favorite dessert - a big bowl of spinach! - is silly enough to make my two-year-old son crack up every time we read it.

He loves personalizing the book for our family (instead of Mama Pea, Papa Pea and Little Pea he calls the peas: Mama Pea, Dada Pea, Ethan Pea and Molly Pea) and what toddler can resist making "yuck" and "blech" sounds along with the Little Pea when he's suffering through a plate of candy.

Ethan makes me read it again and again. I love this book (and my little peas.)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great little book October 3, 2005

By Melissa Christianson

Format:Hardcover

This is a great little book with wonderful watercolor/colored pencil illustrations. Nice message about having to eat dinner before you get dessert. My 3 yr old daughter loves it!

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterical but don't expect it to convert veggie haters December 6, 2005

By Mother of Five

Format:Hardcover

I picked up this book at the library because I was looking for books without too many words a page. I was surprised at how my son - nearly 3 laughed hysterically at it - primarily at disgust given for eating candy.

I would have to disagree with the other reviewer who panned this book for poor reverse psychology. Preschooler habits are long formed by their parents attitudes - whether of indulgence or not. I wouldn't expect this book to convert a veggie hater either - there are other methods in many a child rearing book.

This book is meant to be funny and when given to a child 3 or older it is an excellent belly laugh and a superb opportunity to explore early reading and early drawing. The reason I say 3 years old is that age is when developmentally most children begin to understand cause/effect which is the primary lesson in the story - sometimes we need to do things we don't like to get to where we want to be. And that sacrificial lesson can't be taught too much!!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good! and you don't have to eat 'em April 26, 2005

By Ken Rider

Format:Hardcover

Little Pea is a sweet book, just right for toddlers who understand cause and effect. The humorous twist is that instead of having to eat vegetables to get to dessert, the baby pea has to finish all his yucky candy to get to the good stuff (spinach). Both the language and illustrations are playful and fun. My 2+ year old loved it and I second his recommendation.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let "candy" scare you away! August 22, 2005

By I. Bryant

Format:Hardcover

I recently bought this book for our 2 1/2-year-old son because he absolutely refused to eat cooked vegies -- I thought the story might be a cute way to get him to give vegetables a chance. I am SO GLAD that we bought this book. At dinner, we quote the book and, with laughter, are able to get him to eat "five pieces" of vegetables before he can get seconds on the stuff he likes (bread, rice, etc.) Also, I disagree with the idea that this book promotes candy. Instead, my son is more willing to eat his vegetables and to try new foods because he can reflect upon a fun story that motivates him to do so.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Let the kids decide! August 6, 2005

By c

Format:Hardcover

My 6 and 4 year old have made me read this book twice every night since we got it at the library. We are now buying our own copy and a few extras as gifts. Perhaps it is best not to preview books (except for appropriateness) and let the children decide what they like. My girls even argue over which of them gets to read it!

21 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars good, but with an unfortunate choice of wording March 14, 2006

By S. Hall

Format:Hardcover

My 3 yr old adores this book. She looks at it over and over and asks us to read it to her several times a week. the pictures are cute, the story is cute, and my only complaint is that the author chose to use the word "hate" at one point. Not a word I wanted to introduce into my kids vocabulary so early on.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars cute, but not as good as other books in the series September 1, 2010

By Bibliophilic

Format:Hardcover

This book is darling, and a kid-worthy read, but the premise doesn't come off as naturally as in _Little Oink_. Also, my kids didn't really get the premise, maybe because 3 out of 4 actually like vegetables and they've never heard me say, "You can have a candy after you've finished your peas." They liked it though, but giggled a lot less than with the _Little Oink_.