Reviews: (by author)

Gibert, Bruno. The King Is Naked! NY: Clarion, 2004. $14. ISBN 0-618-41067-8.

A very funny, well-illustrated sparse-text tale of an arrogant lion king on a very hot day. Scratching himself, he finds a zipper and takes off his skin. Like Kipling’s rhinoceros, this metamorphosis brings him grief. No longer do the animals fear him; elephants laugh and he even gets chased by gazelles. The king does get his skin back, but the ending is as funny as the rest of it. Little children will enjoy this book, as will the adults reading it aloud. The pictures are vivid and humorous and display a dynamic sense of design. M. Gibert is a Frenchman; this is his first book in the States. I’ll be looking for more.

A. Allison

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