The King’s Birthday Suit Written by Peter Bently. Reviewed by Felix, Age 5

The King’s Birthday Suit is a retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson fable, The Emperor’s New Clothes. Felix hadn’t heard the fable before.

Felix liked this book and has read it a few times now. He thought the front cover was very funny because: “The King is naked!” He thought the king changing his outfit for every single event was quite funny and ridiculous (especially when he changed his outfit just to go to the loo!) Felix was curious about the page where the king is behind the toilet door and only his shoes can be seen. He thought the shoes (seventies-style platforms) looked interesting and wondered what the rest of the outfit might look like. We spent time looking at the page where all the different fashion designers are lining up waiting to see the king, and discussed which designer we would pick to make clothes for us.

Felix’s mum thinks this is quite a challenging book for younger children in terms of vocabulary. There were some words and concepts that we needed to explore in order to fully understand the story (for example, fashion designer, weaving loom, dismay and jape). Felix learnt quite a bit as a result of this book chat! The book’s bright, detailed illustrations and rhyming verse make it very appealing.