THE TOMATO PATCH

Krullerburg was grey and dismal, crowded by piles of unused spears, swords and slingshots. All food came in cans, because there was no space for a garden or even a small tomato patch. People clanked about in uncomfortable suits of armor with their mouths dragged down at the corners. On the other side of the Strictly Forbidden Forest, Appletainia was in an identical grim state. One day a bored and restless prince from each country wandered into the forest at exactly the same time and consequently met in the middle, where they were startled to see bright green and red structures sticking up from the ground. The sudden transformations which took place in the two kingdoms are startlingly realized in the author's pictures, where red tomatoes and green leaves come as a shock in the midst of the endless black and grey surroundings. Highly imaginative, both in conception and presentation, the illustrator's latest should have great appeal for adults and children alike.