Oh, to be king... if only for a little while. Olivier Tallec's glorious, oversized picture book Louis I, King of the Sheep, originally published in France, explores the often fleeting (and in this case bleating) nature of power.
The book opens wordlessly, with a wonderful, moody painting of a sheep on a hill on a day blustery enough to blow fall leaves--and a blue crown--straight toward him. Four spot illustrations follow: 1) Sheep is eye to eye with the crown 2) Sheep looks sheepishly around 3) Sheep stands up and dons the crown 4) Sheep strikes a regal pose: "And so it was one windy day that Louis the Sheep thereby became Louis I, King of the Sheep," a stately first line, charmingly hand-lettered. A king needs certain things to govern. A scepter, for instance, or a scrawny branch will do. A throne "from which to hand down justice, because justice is rather important." Louis I's royal imaginings grow more comically elaborate--with Versailles-style topiary gardens and penguin ambassadors--and more sinister, as he commands "his people" to march in sheep-step behind him, then banishes all the sheep who don't resemble him. Keen-eyed readers may glimpse a wolf tucked here and there throughout... foreshadowing another blustery day when the wind blows the crown off the sheep's head and onto the wolf's.
This funny, fresh political allegory reflects how power has been found, corrupted and lost throughout history, but there are few children who haven't experienced the rush of a playground victory, only to see the powerful moment blow away, just like that. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness