Little Pea [Hardcover]

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

Book Description

Grade Level: P 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

"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

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 36 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (February 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081184658X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811846585
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Social Skills
  • #68 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Health

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 16 books for children include 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 17 Things I Made, ATM Always Trust Magic, The Kindness Thought Bubble, The Money Tree, Chip the Monk and the interactive, ongoing film project The Beckoning of Lovely (a feature-length film is scheduled for hopeful release on 11/11/11).

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

New Jersey Mom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Pea (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.)

22 of 25 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 "cgk" (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Pea (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!!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

Melissa Christianson "BumbleBaby Mommy" (Yakima, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Pea (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!