Roger Bradfield (1924–2022)

Hm. I don't know if I would have enjoyed this if I'd read it for the first time as an adult... which I expected to do. But the thing is, as soon as I got to the third page, with the helicopter, I knew I'd read it when I was little. Sure enough, all the contraptions, and especially the extension cord, were very familiar... and I couldn't stop grinning through the whole book.

I must have been just as odd as a child as I am as an adult, though. I didn't recognize any of the characters, show more settings, plot devices, nor even the lions! Until, at the very end, I did 'predict' that the sandwiches would come in handy....

What a fun book. I'm glad to see at least some of Bradfield's books re-released in nice big hardcovers (I'm pretty sure the copy I read back then was a little paperback as if from Scholastic or Parent's Press.) show less

I read this book in elementary school in the 1980s, but I forgot the title and have been vaguely looking for it ever since. I finally tracked it down this year and borrowed it through ILL. It's a good, if not amazing picture book, but seeing the art style immediately brought me back to my childhood in a wonderful way.

I might have to come back and give this five stars. It's just magical. And so funny. And (obviously) a classic. I need to find more by Bradfield for sure.

So, here we have a princess, a king who loves pickle-chiffon pie, and three suitors.

And the three suitors go to find something AMAZING to show their devotion to the princess so they can get married. (Spoiler - the one the princess likes is the one who wins. And you know, she has good taste!)

They each find something great, but the third suitor has to leave his prize - a Gazoo who bakes pickle chiffon pies! - behind because it has babies. *sniff*

Bless his soul, the king realizes a great story show more and a compassionate heart when he finds one, and everybody is happy at the end. I adore this book to pieces. show less