Emberley's knights-and-castles background gives this story of how Krispin straightens out his arrogant visiting cousin more zing than if the same social point were made via a contemporary Mark and Jimmy. However, except for some tricky narrative picture play before the story begins, this is so fundamentally unlike Emberley's engaging Klippity Klop (1974), which introduced Krispin, that it seems unfair to sail it through on the same character's royal coattails.