The King and the Sea by Heinz Janisch is full of 21 very short stories about a king who comes across various animals, insects, nature, or inanimate objects. He tries to to assert his power over all of the various items, and the stories end up sounding more philosophical than funny kid literature.
I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. I think the simple pictures, and the short text compliment each other as shown below. I do like the idea of short stories about one character, but I don't think it was done quite right. I think the text and the stories were trying to be funny, but they weren't obviously funny and the connections were difficult to make. The book was kind of boring, and though it is trying to be a book for children it is not written at an elementary school level.
I know in School Library Journal's book review they stated The King and the Sea is best for Kindergarten through 3rd grade, and that it would be a solid choice for a school library. However, I think otherwise.
Goodreads has the following book description:
"“Buzz off,” said the king, shooing the bee from his flower.
“Don’t you know I’m the king?”
“And I’m the queen,” said the bee, stinging the king’s nose.
These stunningly illustrated, ultra-short stories are seemingly simple but ultimately profound tales.
In each story, the king has an encounter which he tries to rule over. But of course the rain doesn’t stop just because a king orders it, and tired eyelids can be much stronger than a king’s will. The king sees that his power has limits; the world is diverse and much of it operates under its own rules."
Happy Extremely Short Story Philosophical Picture Book Reading! However, if I were going to read a collection of short stories I would read Aesop's Fables or Jon Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.
I received this book from Myrick Marketing for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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