My sweet four year old is begging for books with more adventure (and more bad guys) and this one fits the bill perfectly. The bad guy is just nasty enough, Eric the page saves the day through cleverness and a little trickery. This is the book he insists must now be read every day. We might not be able to return it to the library. ( )

King Birtram of Binn got more work done by seven o'clock in the morning than most rulers got done in a month. He worked hard keeping his kingdom safe from the ever-threatening sea, caring for the Patrol Cats who battled the Nizzards - birds who continually ate away at the roots of the Dike Trees protecting the land. But as hard as the king worked, he played just as hard, flashing about on his bright red stilts every day at five in the evening. No one begrudged him his amusement, save for sour Lord Droon, who conspired to hide the king's stilts, and to keep the king's pageboy, Eric, from disclosing this piece of villainy. Unable to play, the king stopped working as well, the cats stopped patrolling, and the Dike Trees became ever weaker. Eric knew he had to do something, or the Kingdom of Binn would soon disappear beneath the waves...

Originally published in 1939, The King's Stilts was Dr. Seuss' third picture-book, following upon And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937) and The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938). Although it was never one of my favorites, when it comes to Dr. Seuss' many books, I do recall reading and enjoying it, when a girl, and have a vivid memory of the image of the king on his stilts. I picked it up for this reread as part of a Seuss retrospective I have recently undertaken as an act of personal protest against the suppression of six of the author/artist's titles - And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, McElligot's Pool, If I Ran the Zoo, Scrambled Eggs Super!, On Beyond Zebra! and The Cat's Quizzer - by Dr. Seuss Enterprises. See my review of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, to be found HERE, for a fuller exploration of my thoughts on that matter.

In any case, I found this an entertaining and thought-provoking original fairy-tale, and appreciated both the story and the artwork. Unlike many of Dr. Seuss' books aimed at younger children, or written later in his career, The King's Stilts presents its story in prose. I have seen it described as an exploration of balance - the need for both hard work and hard play, in a fulfilled life - and I think that makes sense. After all, King Birtram is described as the most productive of royals, until his pleasure is taken away, and he sinks into a depression, suggesting that without the release provided by his chosen leisure activity, his work performance will suffer. This seems a commonly accepted idea today, but I'm not sure how widespread it was in 1939. It occurs to me that the story could also be read as an exploration of the idea of convention and respectability politics, as Lord Droon's actions are driven by what he thinks is proper for a king to do - something that does not involve dashing about on stilts - and by his sense of embarrassment at what he perceives as a silly activity.

However one interprets the story, it is engaging, offering an entertaining and suspenseful tale with plenty of fairy-tale elements - the royal kingdom, the threat from non-human forces, the magical animals - and a satisfactorily happy ending. The accompanying artwork is done in black and white, with the occasional red accent, and captures the absurd humor of the whole tale. The depiction of the both the cats and the Nizzards recalled other creatures of the kind, in subsequent Seuss books, and was very appealing, in that rather snarky, humorous Seussian way. In sum: an appealing, entertaining and satisfying fairy-tale from Seuss, well worth the time of any picture-book reader with a taste for such stories. It's a little text-heavy, so I'd advise its use with slightly older audiences, perhaps six and above. ( )

Having just read some of Geisel's war propaganda, this made for an interesting - and heavily influenced - change of pace. Very much a good/evil pairing, with relaxation and hard work being the good, and conformity and propriety being the motivation for evil acts.

All told, a bizarre juxtaposition. ( )

For one of the non-colourful, non-rhyming early Seuss books, I found this one rather charming. It may lack the amusement of Seuss's made-up lingo and bouncing rhythm, but it loses none of its whimsy due to the carefully depicted character of the hardworking king who takes afternoon jaunts around the palace grounds via stilts. Only Seuss would be able to successfully depart the important message of having fun alongside the importance of working hard through a seemingly silly story - a theme that he would continue throughout his career as a writer and illustrator. ( )

It was my first time to read a prose by Dr. Seuss. I really like the story. The story was about passion and being yourself. It's like the quote "if you go against the will of your heart, it will become smaller and weaker". It was evinced by the king in the story. He tried to be happy but he can't because his passion was gone, and become unproductive.

I think that whatever passion you're into, it does not matter as long as you're happy and honest with yourself. It does not matter if what you love is childish or something. You should not care about what other people see or say. If it will become real, I will admire King Birtram and his quirky way to play. Because the way I see it, Lord Droon was only insecure and envied the king because he was too happy and contented. ( )