The King's Stilts
Author | Dr. Seuss |
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Cover artist | Dr. Seuss |
Language | English |
Genre | Children's literature |
Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 1939 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Pages | 56 pages |
OCLC | 470371 |
Preceded by | The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins |
Followed by | The Seven Lady Godivas |
The King's Stilts is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Geisel, under the pen name Dr. Seuss, and first published in 1939 by Random House. Unlike many Dr. Seuss books, it is narrated in prose rather than verse.
Plot
The King's Stilts tells the story of King Birtram of Binn, who dedicates himself to safeguarding his kingdom, a low-lying land surrounded by high water that is held back by a ring of dike trees, who are the favorite food of a species of pest-birds called nizzards; the kingdom always faces the risk that the nizzards might compromise the dike-tree barrier and cause catastrophic flooding. The King's administration maintains a legion of Patrol Cats to keep the nizzards at bay; King Birtram sees to their care personally. When not attending to his royal duties, the King enjoys himself by frolicking in the streets on his red stilts, which most of his subjects note with amused acceptance.
One day, his minister Lord Droon, secretly a gloomy scoundrel who despises his King cavorting with such undignified happiness, plots to capture the stilts, persuading the King's page boy Eric to steal and hide the stilts. Deprived of his amusement, the King grows depressed and begins to neglect his duties. As a result, the Patrol Cats become less vigilant, and soon the nizzards make headway in eating away the dike trees. Seeing the results of his actions, Eric resolves to return the stilts to the King and succeeds in doing so despite Lord Droon's efforts to stop him. King Birtram, his personal morale restored, finds the energy to mobilize the Patrol Cats to fight off the nizzards and save the kingdom. Lord Droon is arrested and punished with a restricted diet consisting entirely of nizzard cooked in various ways. Eric is rewarded with his own pair of red stilts, and joins the King on his outings.
Publication and reception
The King's Stilts was published in 1939, as Geisel's second book for Random House and his fourth book overall.[1] Although it was considerably more successful than his subsequent book, The Seven Lady Godivas, its sales were still a disappointment: 4,648 copies were sold in 1939 and 394 in 1940.[2]
Reception
References
- Cohen, Charles (2004). The Seuss, the Whole Seuss and Nothing But the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodor Seuss Geisel. Random House Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-375-82248-8. OCLC 53075980.
External links
- v
- t
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- The Grinch
- Horton the Elephant
- Bartholomew Cubbins
- And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
- The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
- The King's Stilts
- The Seven Lady Godivas
- Horton Hatches the Egg
- McElligot's Pool
- Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
- Bartholomew and the Oobleck
- If I Ran the Zoo
- Scrambled Eggs Super!
- Horton Hears a Who!
- On Beyond Zebra!
- If I Ran the Circus
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- The Cat in the Hat
- The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
- Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
- Happy Birthday to You!
- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
- Green Eggs and Ham
- The Sneetches and Other Stories
- Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book
- Dr. Seuss's ABC
- Hop on Pop
- Fox in Socks
- I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew
- I Wish That I Had Duck Feet 1
- Come over to My House 1
- The Foot Book
- I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories
- My Book about ME
- Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises!
- The Lorax
- Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!
- Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?
- The Shape of Me and Other Stuff
- There's a Wocket in My Pocket
- Great Day for Up!
- Wacky Wednesday 1
- Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
- The Cat's Quizzer
- I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!
- Oh Say Can You Say?
- Hunches in Bunches
- The Butter Battle Book
- You're Only Old Once!
- I Am Not Going to Get Up Today!
- Oh, the Places You'll Go!
- Daisy-Head Mayzie 2
- My Many Colored Days 2
- Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! 2
- The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories 2
- Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories 2
- What Pet Should I Get? 2
- Horse Museum 2
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Other media |
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- Helen Palmer (first wife)
- A Fish Out of Water
- Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum
- Beginner Books
- Dr. Seuss Enters., L.P. v. Penguin Books USA, Inc.
- Dr. Seuss Goes to War
- The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss
- Dr. Seuss National Memorial
- Geisel Award
- Geisel Library
- Geisel School of Medicine
- PM
- Political messages of Dr. Seuss
- Read Across America
- Seuss Landing