SIR LOFTY & SIR TUBB

The knights and ladies of two mighty castles live in peace and harmony. The traditional wall separating the castles has crumbled; the knights’ armor has gone to rust. But the equanimity is shattered by the appearance of a grand and beautiful flower that springs up between the castles, and Old Man Greed enters the picture. And why, young readers will ask Schroeder, why such sudden cupidity when the knights and ladies had been happily sharing the glory of the flower, and the soft, sweetly dreamy and loopy artwork—with its mixed-media Monty Python–esque eccentricity—had signaled their pleasure? Don’t know. After the flower has been torn petal from limb, after a cold winter of discontent, when spring brings a wealth of new blooms and the knights and ladies are once again on speaking terms, have they learned the error of their ways? No telling. The plants, however, are throwing winks at one another. Which is subtle and cute, though likely to pass like a satellite over most young readers’ heads. (Picture book. 4-8)