The Artist and the King

by Julie Fortenberry

Overview

Winner of:
Bronze Award, Best Children's Illustrated Book, 2015 Feathered Quill Book Awards

When a bad-tempered king punishes Daphne, a young artist, he soon realizes that he has met his match. For Daphne turns her punishment, a dunce cap, into a fashionable and regal hat and now every villager wants to wear one. Daphne’s caring, creative spirit may just be what the kingdom and the king has needed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780979300035
Publisher:	Alazar Press
Publication date:	04/01/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Julie Fortenberry is an artist who has illustrated several children’s picture books, including Pirate Boy. She lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina

Editorial Reviews

An endearing protagonist who puts the very ‘spunk’ in ‘spunky.’ Julie’s vivid artwork pops off the page.”  —Julie Danielson, Kirkus Reviews

“Children will look to find themselves in the crowd of people and will be able to do so.”  —Henrietta Mays Smith, Ph.D., University of SouthFlorida, 2011 Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

“In this charming fairy tale, a spirited girl brings new life and joy to her kingdom.”  —Pauletta Brown Bracy, Ph.D., NC Central University



“Colorful, whimsical illustrations invite younger listeners into the story of a young courageous artist who defies her king. Themes of the critical importance of art and meaningful relationships add allegorical layers that deepen the story for all readers.”  —Susie Wilde, teacher, writer, children's book specialist

From the Publisher

2014-02-26
In a nod to art's twin powers of subversion and of transformation, a very small painter makes a hardhearted king cry—and then smile. Enraged at the sight of a quickly sketched scowling caricature, the king orders little Daphne to exchange her artist's beret for a tall, conical dunce cap. She proceeds to decorate and make it so attractive that soon, her hats are selling like hotcakes ("She has such an eye for color and proportion," coos a customer). Taking this new fashion to be mockery, the king rushes out to banish everyone—including, as it turns out, his own angry daughter. Re-enter Daphne, who apologizes for the "mean picture," soothes the weeping monarch with a pointed cap of his own, and after helping him lead the princess and other exiles back, regains her beret as a reward. In her scribbly cartoons, Fortenberry endows both the king and the diminutive artist with easy-to-read expressions and big, fetching manes of flyaway black curls. Readers inspired by the dozens of artfully enhanced toppers on display in several scenes will find directions for making their own on the author's website. Parts of this may fly over younger audiences' heads, but the general point is adroitly made. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews