Emperor's New Clothes - Softcover

Hans C Andersen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1840118423 ISBN 13: 9781840118421

Publisher: Templar Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

Hans Christian Andersen's classic fable of vanity and pride is given a refreshing twist in this beautiful picture book illustrated by Alison Jay in her award-winning crackle-glaze style.

About this title

About the Author

Alison Jay is a graduate of the London College of Printing and the critically acclaimed illustrator of many books for children, including The Nutcracker, Welcome to the Zoo and Nursery Rhyme Rainbow.

From Publishers Weekly

Sedgwick's (Floodland) jaunty rhymed couplets and Jay's (The Race) signature stylized artwork ably accentuate the wry humor of this Hans Christian Andersen tale. The author emphasizes the breezy cadence of the verse by sprinkling it with exclamation points and presenting some of the words in larger type sizes for emphasis. When the monarch contemplates checking up on the deceitful tailors' progress, for instance, he thinks, "Suppose, when I visit, I can't see a thing./ Then I'd look like a fool/ and I am the King!"; both "fool" and "king" appear in larger font sizes for aid in reading aloud. Jay's pictures, at once classic and edgy, bring into humorous focus this imperial household of cleverly cast animals: the vain emperor is a lion, his scurrying servants (sent to check up on the tailors in the lion's stead) are a hare and a tortoise, and weasels assume the role of the scheming tailors. The elaborate, often intricately patterned courtly garb worn by the characters—most importantly the foppish emperor—renders the ruler's unclothed persona all the more comical. And her intermittently elongated and foreshortened perspectives emphasize the tale's moral. As the weasels gloat over their success at convincing the emperor to hire them to fashion magical clothes for him, they say of their ruse: "The story's a good one, woven with care./ And one that was told with a/ great deal of flair!" An apt description of this buoyant collaboration as well. Ages 4-8.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Templar Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1840118423
• ISBN 13: 9781840118421
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32