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Summary
Summary
For hundreds of years, children have delighted in reciting the classic nursery rhyme of Humpty Dumpty's fall. Over the centuries there have been many different interpretations, but some speculate that it was originally a riddle: "What could fall and break, but could not ever be repaired?" An egg is certainly one possible answer.
Renowned artist Etienne Delessert considers instead the wall, and how walls can become a division between society's "haves" and "have-nots." In his haunting and beautiful rendition, Delessert tells the story of King Humpty Dumpty and his lavish paradise, raising questions about the walls we build between each other and the perils they pose, not only to those excluded, but often to the wall-builders themselves.
Author Notes
Etienne Delessert was born in 1941 in Switzerland. For more than thirty years the self-taught artist has been translating his and the world's ideas, passions, fantasies, and nightmares into the visual language of books, magazine illustrations, posters, animated films, paintings, and sculptures. His imaginary creatures and landscapes juxtapose chaos and order, the familiar and the fantastic, the serious and the joyous, to clarify this world and create new and surprising universes. Delesserthas illustrated more than eighty books, including collaborations with avant-garde playwright Eugene Ionesco and renowned psychologist Jean Piaget. His internationally acclaimed books have been translated into more than fifteen languages and have garnered numerous awards and distinctions, including ten gold medals from the American Society of Illustrators. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, designer Rita Marshall, and their son Adrien.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-King Humpty Dumpty surrounds his world with a fence, thereby separating his colorful kingdom from the dim, dusty domain of the peasants. He spends his days smelling the flowers, enjoying the songs of birds, eating elegant meals, admiring artwork (paintings of himself), and reading by the light of the setting sun reflecting off diamonds. When a curious peasant peeks over the fence, the enraged king fires all of his staff and begins building a higher barrier out of heavy stones. However, the pampered monarch is unused to such work and has a terrible fall, landing on the other side of the wall. The peasants bury him with little fanfare, and the book concludes with the traditional nursery rhyme. Delessert's gray-and-brown peasants resemble the whimsical mice and rabbitlike creatures in A Was an Apple Pie (Creative Editions, 2005). Humpty has an egg-shaped head with a large protruding nose and wears a golden half-circle crown. The surreal landscape is embellished with realistic-looking birds and flowers. The illustrations are the real strength of the book. Unfortunately, this interpretation of "Humpty Dumpty" is too bleak and heavy-handed and lacks child appeal.-Robin L. Gibson, Granville Parent Cooperative Preschool, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Delessert (The Seven Dwarves) imagines King Humpty Dumpty as a pop-eyed, deluded monarch who lives a life of ease in a castle surrounded by miserable peasants. It's their discovery of his wealth, Delessert proposes, that prompts King Humpty to build the wall around his castle even higher, and his fall during its construction that the famous nursery rhyme commemorates. The formidable paintings of King Humpty's hallucinogenic gardens and the pig-nosed bunnies who wait on him provide ironic counterpoint to passages of text describing his pampered life. "After a nap, King Humpty practiced the art of archery. His crossbow had been made especially for him in Switzerland." The spread shows a row of servants with apples on their heads, cowering as the king takes aim. The story looks headed for a cheerful ending, possibly with the peasants rowing on King Humpty's pond after his demise, a conclusion younger readers might have welcomed. But these peasants are so downtrodden that even their oppressor's death doesn't relieve their misery. "The peasants, in a humble ceremony, laid him to rest on their side of the fence. Then they wandered back into their night," it ends. A fascinating exercise in imagination, but a disheartening read. Ages 5-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved