Saturday, June 23, 2012

Oblong is in!

Here's a book that I have been enjoying lately (a gift from Hazel, better known as Ms. Artroom Plant):  The Emperor's Oblong Pancake, written by Peter Hughes in 1961.

The illustrations are by the inimitable Gerald Rose.  I didn't know his work before, but it turns out he is a prolific illustrator,  winner of the Kate Greenaway medal, and beloved by generations of British children. Shows how much I know! His book The Tigerskin Rug is such a classic that it has recently been re-published by Bloomsbury. I just love his quirky and fresh line, full of charm and energy and humour.


The story is an ode to stubbornness.  It is about an emperor who, one day — on a whim — commands that everything in his kingdom be oblong. Every other shape is banished!


And thus we end up with oblong eggs, oblong apples, oblong bathtubs, even oblong wheels (a bit troublesome, that).  Problems arise, of course. After many failed attempts to solve them, the emperor himself rides off in search of an answer — and returns with the discovery that the world itself is round.  Who knew? And of course he decrees that -- guess what?— everything in his kingdom must now be round, too....

...except maybe his breakfast pancakes.

Now that I've worked up an appetite for crêpes carrées, I will leave you with some recent finds:

4 comments:

  1. Hmmmmmm I thought it looked a good un :D

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  2. Hi Hazel! Yes I really enjoyed this one... merci encore pour de cadeau génial!
    :-)))))

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing these inspiring illustrations, maral!
    super-fort blogpost :0)

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  4. Hi Maria! I am glad you like them.... it's never too late to discover wonderful illustrators like Gerald Rose!
    PS hope your projects are going well, too. Say hello to Suzette and Père Noël...
    x

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So... what do you think?