The Runaway Pea

K-Gr 3–Fresh, frozen or canned, we’ve all experienced the flee of a runaway pea! Determined to stir up some excitement, an adventurous pea launches from a plate of personified veggies into a sequence of unexpected and unfortunate circumstances. After bouncing into a puddle of sauce, plunging into the dog bowl, sailing into the fish tank, and triggering a mousetrap, the pea wrongly assumes “Surely there’s nothing else left to go wrong?” Rolling to a halt beneath the refrigerator, the pea encounters a word of warning from a long forgotten banana and two moldy grapes nestled among crumbs and dust bunnies. Will it be too late for the pea to heed their advice before being swept further away from a predictable plate? A surprise ending depicts the unforeseen opportunity that can be found in straying from the bushel. Poskitt’s lively, rhyming story coupled with Willmore’s colorful, action-packed illustrations create a romping recommended purchase. Pair with the evil pea in Hendra’s Supertato and readers will find two animated peas in a pod.