PATCHING, TAILORING and even EDITING! by Enid Richemont
At present I've been re-acquainting myself with my "Little Bad King", partly because it slots into current politics, which won't interest its intended age group one whit, except for the themes of fairness, greed, and nasty people getting their come-uppance in amusing ways, none of which is age exclusive. This is how it starts:
SPREAD ONE.
ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A LITTLE BAD KING.
HE WAS MEAN. HE WAS GREEDY, AND (SSSSH! SECRET!)
HE LOOKED JUST LIKE A ROLY-POLY PUDDING.
(This is where we see the real king, and he's not very pretty!)
SPREAD TWO.
ALL OVER TOWN, THERE WERE PICTURES OF THE KING.
HE WAS BIG. HE WAS SPLENDID.
THERE WAS EVEN A STATUE.
(This is where we see the hype - bulging muscles etc etc)
And, of course, the king will get his come-uppance via an imaginative tailor, and a small boy who just doesn't believe the hype. NB That legal declaration about book characters having no resemblance or connection with anyone living or dead, well I can think of at least three little bad kings, but that's just coincidence, isn't it?
I recently watched a disurbing programme about how to become a dictator (my secret ambition), and learnt about publicity, which I hadn't considered the first time round, so I gave my Little Bad King false images, and even a statue - great to illustrate!
There is only so long you can get away with this, though, and every year I wonder if this might be the final farewell. This year I resigned myself - IT WOULD HAVE TO GO! But as with much-loved books and much-edited manuscripts, I couldn't do it. We have a small local shop specialising in expensive interior design stuff which also sells ribbons. Well I went, and I looked - I wasn't going to BUY anything, was I? The rest is history.
Comments
Could we have a picture of your coat of many colours, please? x
Sandra - I'll email you a pic of the coat, as it's not easy to back-pedal on Blogger.