The Invisible Kingdom (Enhanced Edition)
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
Gorgeous words and stunning illustrations combine in a book for anyone aged 8-80, by internationally renowned papercut artist Rob Ryan. Rob Ryan has collaborated with Paul Smith, Liberty, Fortnum and Mason and Tatty Devine, amongst others.
This is a story about a prince. He lived in a palace that seemed to have been specially designed to make someone who already felt small feel even smaller. He rarely saw his parents, who were always busy being the King and Queen; and, unlike other children, the Prince never spent time dreaming about what he would be when he grew up because he knew that when his father died, he would become King. It was his destiny.
The only person who treated the Prince like a normal child was the Bootman. Understanding that everyone needs something to call their own, the Bootman gave the Prince a pen with invisible ink and a special torch that allowed him to create a world that only he could see.
One night, as the Prince was drawing on the curtains that surrounded his bed, he noticed a small hole and beyond that a trapdoor, which led to the attic. And in the attic he found a window and a way to sneak out of the palace and experience the real world…
THE INVISIBLE KINGDOM is about a small boy, a big imagination and learning to be your own person.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British artist Ryan (A Sky Full of Kindness) offers a fanciful modern fairy tale illustrated with a whole sheaf of his intricately detailed cut-paper silhouettes, including a poster on the back of the dust jacket. The hero, a young prince, lives in a palace in the middle of the city, trapped by protocol. His parents are remote, and his tutor, Lord Von Dronus, is an odious prig. After the death of his father, the prince now the king finds a secret exit and leaves the palace for the first time. "All of my life I have lived according to the needs and demands of others," he says to himself. "This is my coronation, this is my crowning." Wandering the city at night, he experiences the beauty of ordinary life for the first time. When Lord Von Dronus discovers the young man's exploits "We had reason to believe Your Majesty's life was in danger," he sneers the royal summons his courage: "Well, obviously I'm perfectly well.... Please would you close the door on your way out?" It's the first of three volumes, and readers will long for the next book. Ages 8 up.
