THE LOST KINGDOM OF KARNICA

by Richard Kennedy ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 30, 1979

A parable of greed, a conservationist allegory, but also a forceful, beautifully told story, in the Kingdom of Karnica, an enormous red gemstone is found at the bottom of a well; and life, ""not especially fine or wonderful"" before but pleasant enough for most, quickly gets worse. The king is apprised of the find, and orders digging to begin. But day and night efforts, swallowing farm after farm, don't bring the diggers to the stone's end. ""The stone is the heart of the kingdom,"" the wise man warns. But the king will have none of it: ""That's just a lot of muckle-muckle."" At last, with lakes emptied, forests cut down, rivers ""turned to spill over the stone and wash it,"" Karnica's borders are reached and only the stone's gleaming surface is left. Hundreds of boats and ships are constructed to haul it out oceanward; and when the elaborate scheme is put into effect, ""the great red stone lifted from the earth and rolled over everyone on the beach and disappeared into the deeps, taking with it . . . every boat and ship."" Nothing, however, becomes this non-tendentious tale more than its crackling last line: ""Surely it is a muckle-muckle shame, but it is the muckle-muckle truth."" Uri Shulevitz's full-color illustrations, most reminiscent of those in Fool of the World. . . , provide effective narrative support though they haven't a like emotional range.

Pub Date: July 30, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Sierra Club/Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1979

Categories: CHILDREN'S