THE KING WHO WAS TOO BUSY

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 1966

He was once the good king of a small but happy kingdom where the people always found him willing to listen to their troubles, his friends considered him a good companion, and his daughter loved him because he would tell her stories. But then a visitor jeered at the modesty of his regal trappings, and the king decided to increase his power. Wars were waged and won, and after each one the king would don a new robe, and a new crown to the stack on his head, and build a new turret on top of the old. But eventually his pride took a fall--literally-- his crowns slipped off and he lost his footing at the top of his layer-cake style castle. The flagpoles on each layer cake broke his fall and stripped him of his robes and his ignominy taught him that ""More important, more by far/ Than what we own, is what we are."" It's a clearly, but genially, moral story, nicely told except for occasional irrelevant versification. The crayon illustrations are flat, harshly colored cartoons.

Pub Date: April 15, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1966

Categories: CHILDREN'S