Gr 1—3—Duncan, a "terribly handsome" king, spends each day "admiring his Royal Reflection, and not doing much else." His image is everywhere. Tired of living in a kingdom that is falling apart, the people demand much-needed services. He responds with a huge banner bearing—you guessed it—his own image. The next day a mustache appears on the banner, then on all the "Wanted!" posters seeking the perpetrator, and, finally, on every statue and billboard in the realm. It turns out all of his subjects have contributed their artistic talents to this task, and the enraged king jails them all. When life "as the only free man in all the land" becomes lonely and made worse by the sounds of laughter emanating from the jail, Duncan relents, gives up his imperious haughtiness, and paints a mustache on his own face. The large cartoon illustrations, mostly spreads, are framed in gold with a peacock motif along the bottom. The brief, humorous text appears in scrolls superimposed on the paintings. Though some pictures are so dark that details are difficult to see from afar, careful viewing reveals many visual jokes. The palace contains hilarious portraits and statues, including the king as Centaur. Beleaguered servants carry a giant mirror next to the king when he's out walking, and funny billboards abound. Despite its sheer silliness, this royal romp of a story contains some subtle messages behind the hilarity.—Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT
Instead of fixing his kingdom's roads and playgrounds, vain and clueless King Duncan keeps presenting his people with cheesy art and banners bearing his self-satisfied likeness, upon which his royal subjects finally paint mustaches in retaliation. The plot escalates deliciously from there--and then fizzles out in an anticlimactic denouement. The caricaturish illustrations recall Mad magazine at its best.
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