A stunning picture book celebrating the Tiny King’s journey from sadness to happiness. The Tiny King lives alone and feels very small and lost in his very big castle with its very big bed and very big bath. But then the Tiny King meets a big Princess and everything in his life changes. Soon the castle is filled with children – lots of children. All the dark spaces are turned light and everyone is happy ever after. As the mood of the story changes, the spreads go from sombre colours to beautiful brightness.
Taro Miura has created an enchanting prequel to The Tiny King called The Big Princess, illustrated with his refreshingly original artistic style.
Once upon a time there was a tiny king who lived in a big castle guarded by lots of big soldiers. Every day the Tiny King eats an enormous feast at his big dining table (he can never finish it all), he rides on his big horse (he is so tiny that he's thrown off every time), bathes in his big bath (not much fun), and sleeps, not very well, in his big bed all alone. Everything is just too big, and the Tiny King is sad and lonely. Until one day he meets a big princess and asks her to be his queen. Not long after, they are blessed with children - lots of children! Now everything is just the right size. The enormous meals are always gobbled up, his horse is just the right size for family outings, bath time is a real riot, and the Tiny King sleeps soundly at last.
With bright, bold cut-outs and a whimsical use of collage, Japanese artist Taro Miura creates a witty, heart-warming story with huge appeal for readers big and small.
Taro Miura is an award-winning author/illustrator and graphic designer. Born in Aichi, Japan, in 1968, Taro specialized in silkscreen printing at Osaka University of Arts. He was first selected to exhibit his work in the Bologna Children's Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition fiction category in 2001, and has since exhibited his work in the Fiction and Non-Fiction categories several times. Taro works internationally and he is regularly published in Japan, France, Switzerland and Italy. This is his first book with Walker. About The Tiny King he says, It's a simple story about a lonely king who gets married, is blessed with children, and whose life is completely changed by having a family. If this story reminds the fathers, mothers and children who read this book about the magnificence of having a family, it will make me very happy. Taro lives in Japan.
