Mister King

Originally published in Finnish as Herra Kuningas, this picture-book from Raija Siekkinen, whose only other children's story to be translated into English thus far is The Curious Faun, follows the story of a lonely king, living on an isolated shore in a far distant country. Longing for subjects - or anyone to keep him company - the king is incapable of appreciating the beauty of the world around him, until the day a massive cat appears on his doorstep, claiming to be a tiger, and proceeds to move in. Still a king in name, but soon a servant in reality (as is often the case with cats), he comes to appreciate the beauty of his home, and of the natural world. When people begin to move to his part of the world, he hails them as subjects, show more and introduces himself as their king, only to be taken as 'Mr. King,' their neighbor...

An oddly pleasing little fairy-tale, Mister King invites speculation, as to the truth of what is going on with the eponymous hero. Is "Mister King" really a king, or is he a lonely old man rescued from isolation, first by his animal companion, and then by contact with other human beings? And does it really matter? In the end, he's happy to think of himself as a king with subjects, and his neighbors are happy to think of him as their sunset-loving compatriot. A useful reminder, perhaps, that multiple perspectives are often possible? The gorgeous watercolor artwork by Hannu Taina adds to the sense of magical ambiguity here - I particularly loved the use of color! - and definitely deserved to win the BIB (The Biennial of Illustration Bratislava) Grand Prix Award for 1987! show less

Hard to rate. For the right audience, the magic will work. Sometimes simple fables are disproportionately powerful, and I've a feeling this was meant to be that kind of story. The basic idea is that the king stops being self-centered and benefits from serving others and seeing the world through their eyes.

But somehow that message seemed lost in the fantasy & mystery of this odd castle, this giant cat who might be a tiger, these illustrations that only rarely seem to actually illustrate and support the story. Or, maybe, it'd work better in the original - maybe the translation from the Finnish didn't work.

You might love it. Don't let my reaction dissuade you from seeing if your library system has a copy.