This was one of my favorite books at the library in elementary school, in kindergarten, maybe 1st grade. After the book was identified from my hazy memories I ordered it through inter-library loan.

It came in this morning, and for once the fact that I'm at work well before I can clock in worked out. I was able to read this immediately.

Its more wordy than I remember, but that might have appealed to me who back then loathed the time we had to spend over such books with titles like 'Sammy Sam the Flying Man' that had a word a page at best. The watercolor illustrations are expansive too, full of wide shots of gardens and the sea, staircases and corridors. I want to frame the whispering library and keep it on my wall.

Its a simple story, and the man is an absurd monarchist, but cute, especially with the orange cat lounging about and, well being a cat and getting the king to provide it with food and games. Sometime childhood memories hold up. ( )

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. ( )

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, 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! ( )