2018 School Spending Survey Report
The Tiny King
tr. from Japanese. illus. by author. 32p. Candlewick. 2013. RTE $14.99. ISBN 9780763666873. LC 2012955151.
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This Japanese import tells the simplest of stories. The tiny king is lonely. He's lonely at his gigantic dinner table, on his oversized horse, and in his big bed. Precisely mid-book, he marries a nice big princess and they lose no time in having ten tiny children. The story in pictures has the same clear simplicity, with cheery geometric cut-paper collage in bright colors.
This is the simplest of stories. The tiny king is lonely. He’s lonely at his gigantic overstocked dinner table; he’s lonely on his oversized horse; he’s lonely in his huge elaborate bathtub, and he’s lonely in his big, big bed. His only company is an army of stern soldiers. The spacious double-page spreads give the king plenty of room to be tiny in. So, precisely mid-book, he marries a nice big princess and they lose no time in having ten tiny children who gather ’round the dinner table, play in the bathtub, and cozy up in the family bed. The soldiers are sent packing. The story in pictures has the same clear simplicity, with geometric cut-paper collage in bright colors with decorated papers, touches of old-timey clip art, and Bruna-stylized figures. As the tiny king finds domestic happiness, the background of the pages changes from matte black to matte white to a gorgeous raspberry pink (followed by lemon yellow, pumpkin orange, etc.), and even the bathwater explodes into color. This graphically cheerful, quietly amusing Japanese import is a celebration of family life in the key of
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