Tuesday, 9 October 2018
"The King Who Banned the Dark" by Emily Haworth-Booth (Pavilion Children's Books)
Not all kids are Princes though, like the central character in "The King Who Banned the Dark" by Emily Haworth-Booth.
In this story the little Prince vows to do something about the dark when he grows up to be king.
...And do something he does. He bans darkness, and sets out several rules of the kingdom to ensure that everyone follows suit - and makes sure that his kingdom is one of light and brightness, not shadow and dark.
But of course when a King bans the dark completely, installing an artificial sun, and enforcing "anti-dark" laws, it seems like a good idea at first.
The citizens don't need to worry about monsters, crime, or any of the other scary things that might live in the dark.
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| Eeep. Not easy to get to sleep in the light, is it? |
But what happens when nobody can sleep, and the citizens revolt? Will the King face his fears and turn the lights off?
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| As little prince becomes king, he vows to do something about the dark once and for all |
This is a really fantastic and original story, that offers a fantastic moral lesson about balancing things out - after all how can we appreciate the light without darkness and vice versa?
Fab stuff from Emily.
"The King Who Banned the Dark" by Emily Haworth-Booth is out now, published by Pavilion Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).
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