Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut

By Margaret Atwood

Book Overview

Presenting Princess Prunella. Proud, prissy, and pretty, and unhappily very spoiled, she lives in a pink palace with her pinheaded parents, her three plump pussycats, and her prize puppy dog, Pug. Her passion? Her very own person. Her aspiration? To marry a pinheaded prince with piles of pin money, who will praise and pamper her. From Margaret Atwood--the novelist, poet, short story writer and author of such contemporary bestsellers as The Handmaid's Tale and The Robber Bride --comes a modern fairy tale with a classic message. Illustrated with elegant humor by Maryann Kovalski, Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut revels in the smart-alecky humor of its impertinent heroine and an alliteration of p's that gives the story a tongue-twisting energy with surprises at every turn. Children, and adults who love reading to children, will love reading princess prunella in the same way that they love reading Dr. Suess for the sheer fun of the language. But there's something more, too, as a born storyteller creates, with the mere choice of a word, an indelibly lively portrait of a spoiled little girl who is about to get her much-deserved comeuppance. Selection of Book-of-the-Month Club. 53,000 copies in print.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761101667
• ISBN13: 9780761101666
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.1" x 0.4" x 9.6"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

A Keeper!

For three years (starting when she was 5) we have enjoyed reading this book to our grand daughter who lives in Belgium and whose native language is French. When she visits us -- it's all about English and this book has lots of fun word twists. The story is great too -- we made hand puppets of the main characters and put on a puppet show for the family, based on the story. I've just ordered another one for our grand children living in CA. Can't wait to start sharing it with them.

Perfect Party Pleaser

When my daughter was 5, this was one of her favorites. Since then, I have given this book repeatedly-- to grandparents! It's the perfect tongue-twister bedtime story. Guaranteed fun.

Allergy alert! May contain nuts.

OK, here is what the book is about, in a purple nutshell. Prunella, a proud, prissy, princess, plans to marry a pinheaded prince who will pamper her--until a wise old woman's spell puts a purple peanut on the princess's pretty nose. See, the book is written in profound proliferation of purposely placed "p" words. It is a real thoroughgoing exercise in alliteration. Like, here are a few example sentences: "Princess Prunella lived in a pink palace with her pinheaded parents, Princess Patty and Prince Peter, her three plump pussycats, Patience, Prue and Pringle, and her puppy dog, Pug." Or, I loved this one: "And for supper she fed Prunella some parsley and paprika soup, a pile of potted pigeon and pike and pickerel pancakes, and some pepper and porridge preserve, on a pretty plate patterned with pendulous poppies." This is not Atwood's first or only foray into alliterative books for kids. There is also one called Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes, and the soon-to-be-published Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda. She says: "Princess Prunella began as a story I used to tell my little girl when I was brushing out her long curly hair. I was used to telling stories to children, as I worked with them a lot when I was a teen-ager. I was a camp counsellor, for instance. Also I had a much younger sister -- I was in charge of her Hallowe'en birthday party, which was always a dramatic event. I used to paint my face green, gather the children underneath the dining room table, turn out all the lights, and tell them ghost stories. In addition to that, I had a puppet show, which I ran with a friend of mine. We started out by doing our puppet show at kids' birthday parties, and then went on to give it at company Christmas parties." Well, I have just read the story, and I loved it. And every good children's story needs good illustrations, am I right? Well, the illustrations in this book are just great. They are the work of Maryann Kovalski. I'm sure I have stared at these pictures longer than a kid would have. She uses a lot of pastel color, and the expressions on each character, especially the animals, is superb. And when The Wise Woman's bag upsets on the stairway, spilling its contents, we see among the things scattered, a copy of the Enquirer, and the front page reads: 98-YR OLD WOMAN WEDS 22-YR OLD MAN! "I LOVE HER. TO ME SHE LOOKS 80." And when the peanut-nosed Prunella is served supper in bed, the servant has this emblazoned on her apron, I HATE TO COOK. Some comic relief for the adult reader of the story.... Terrific. Atwood. As always.

Wonderful Words Work together

I don't think many famous authors can achieve good books for children, but Atwood did it! Princess Prunella not only is a beautiful story, but the way the author plays with words and adjectives is fantastic. Very good book for children who are not very interested in reading. If you read it aloud for them and play it as a tongue twister, they'll love it!

Quite the tongue twister

This book is very entertaining. Both my daughters enjoy listening to me read it to them. A very good girls book with a lot of humour and lessons learned. You don't have to be pretty in life to be happy. I would recommend it to a friend or give it as a present. Appropreiate for ages 4 to 9.