The King's Birthday Suit

A colourful re-working of Hans Christian Anderson's classic tale - The Emperor's New Clothes. This tale will not fail to engage your child and have them giggling at the poor King and his bare bottom! A rhyming tale of a King who has so many clothes that he is at a loss as to what to wear for this Birthday. The absurdity of the enormous amount of his clothes is shown through hilarious lines such as, 'he even changed outfits going to the loo'. The illustrations are bright, clear and very funny to reflect the silly King's demands, showing all the different outfits he wear and the outfits presented to him for his Birthday. That is, until two young rascals turn up disguising themselves as new designers and claiming to make the King a new outfit that, 'can only be seen by the wise and the clever'. The two tricksters pretend to be busy and create an outfit for the King, whilst really creating nothing. The King's ministers are afraid to look unwise in front of the King and all pretend they can see the new outfit and exclaim how wonderful it is, and soon the King falls for the trick...

This book is simply delightful and a fantastic re-working of the original tale. It brings the original up to date, makes it outrageously funny and also opens up a dialogue with your child about greed. The illustrations are delightful - detailed, yet clear and brightly colourful, meaning a young child can easily follow the story with you. There is so much to look at on each page that I spot something new every time I read it. The rhythm and rhyme of the story makes is a fluent story to read and a lovely way to introduce children to the classic tale. I particularly enjoyed all the subtle puns embedded and the newspaper headlines in the cover of the book whilst my daughter (age 5) loved giggling, knowing the trickster designers were up to no good. A fantastic read for any time of the day. A fabulous addition to any book shelf.

Picture book / Reviewed by Joanna Hewish, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 3+