Little Pea

A delightful little picture-book from Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace, Little Pea combines minimal text and minimal illustrations, achieving the maximum effect in charm and entertainment. Little Pea is a happy youngster, who loves his Papa and Mama Pea, and enjoys playing with his friends. The only discordant element in his life comes at mealtime, when his parents insist that he eat his candy, before he can have a delicious bowl of spinach for dessert...

This charming reversal of the usual mealtime argument involving vegetables, is sure to please young children, who will enjoy all the many sounds of disgust Little Pea makes while being forced to eat FIVE(!) pieces of candy. "Blech," indeed! Jen Corace's illustrations are simple but show more effective, conveying a sense of motion and feeling. All in all, this strikes me as a book ideally suited for storyhour with young children, and while it may not convince fussy eaters to mend their ways, it will hold up a humorous mirror for their feelings and behavior. show less

Corace's spare but colorful illustrations introduce young readers to Little Pea and his family. Little Pea likes to roll down hills, play with his "pea pals", have Papa Pea fling him off of a spoon (the kids love this picture), and listen to Mama Pea tell stories about herself as a little girl, er, pea. Yep, Little Pea had a great life, except for dinner time. Because when you're a pea, you eat CANDY every night for dinner. Blech! (The laughter and the incredulous looks on kids' faces is great!) And, as all kids have heard before, if Little Pea doesn't finish his dinner there will be no dessert. Little Pea grudgingly eats each piece of candy (a nice place for your child to count along with Little Pea). He winces, he makes faces, he show more sticks out his tongue, he says "blech", but he finally finishes all of his candy and is given dessert. And what was for dessert you ask?

"Spinach!" squealed Little Pea. "My favorite!"

This is a short book, not a lot of text or illustrations on the pages, but kids are totally absorbed by the concept of candy for dinner and vegetables for dessert. They even enjoy the corny final line (each book has one) of:

And they lived hap-pea-ly ever after

Verdict:
This is a super cute book that younger kids can discuss with their parents. The idea that candy helps a pea to grow up big and strong, all of the arguments they've heard but turned on their head. This is a delightful little book and I give it 5 stars. I think it's great and I know The Kid will enjoy it when he's older. show less

http://deadspin.com/5889376/if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie-youre-fucked-10-tips-fo....

Thanks, Drew Magary! This one was fun. Along the lines of Gregory the Terrible Eater, the dinner/dessert foods are flipped: Little Pea is supposed to eat up all his candy before he can have dessert (spinach). The illustrations remind me a bit of Stick & Stone, but maybe because peas and stones are both round... Over all, entertaining and cute, with opportunities for voices and sound effects when reading aloud. I imagine it stands up to many a re-read.

Clever idea for a story...and well-executed! The text is concise, and the illustrations are adorable. However, we're going to try to avoid the eat-your-supper-and-get-dessert thing with our children because we believe that rule made us develop some not-so-healthy habits with dessert. So seeing as how that's the crux of this story, I don't foresee us purchasing this book or getting it from the library again. But that's just our own personal hang-up with it. It really is a great little story!

Little pea is just your average kid-pea. And furthermore, he does NOT like to eat his candy, because that's what he has to eat everyday - candy, candy, candy. He much prefers dessert, and can only have it after he's eaten every single bit of candy on his plate. He can't wait to see what his dessert is - Hurray! It's spinach!

A simple story, minimal illustrations, funny to see life from a pea's point of view. And little pea and his parents live happ-pea-ly ever after.

A clever spin on the eat your vegetables before dessert saying. Little Pea does not want to eat his candy dinner, but he has to if he wants his vegetable after dinner treat! The online format of this book was very cute and effective because of the small amounts of dialogue and simple illustrations. I liked that I could have the book read to me or read the book myself.

Little Pea, the title character, reminds me a lot of my son. Little Pea every night is forced to eat food he doesn't like (because it's good for him). His exasperated parents ask him to eat five pieces. Little Pea reluctantly does what they ask but pulls the most wonderful faces as he takes his bites. These scenes replay the typical dinner for us. Sean is a picky eater and we often times resort to counting out bites to get him to eat.

Little Pea is the second book by Amy Krause Rosenthal that I've read. I was first introduced to her humorous writing through her autobiography: Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. Now that we've enjoyed one of her children's books, I will keep her in mind for future book purchases.