It Takes A Giant Heart To Find A King

The Giant King by Kathleen Pelley

Kathleen Pelley has written a delightful story about recognizing the potential in others. In a tale that is evocative of Tomie de Paolo, Pelley introduces us to a simple, wise lad with a special talent. Rabbie is a carpenter and a woodcarver whose talent lies in his ability to see. "You see with your eyes," he'd explain when people were awestruck over his carvings, "and so you see what is. But I carve with my heart, and so I see what can be.what might be."

And with those simple words we learn the secret of the quiet hero of The Giant King by Kathleen Pelley. It is a story told with charm and without preachiness. It is also a book with a delightful twist that is easy to miss. The protagonist, Rabbie, doesn't gather laurels and rewards for himself, he gains them for others. When people try to credit him for his deeds, he demurs, saying that he only found what was hidden.

The Giant King tells how Rabbie, a young boy with a talent for carving that puts him in demand all across the land, enters a town that is being tormented by a giant. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the town was tormenting the giant. Rabbie suggests to them that if they treated him like a king, perhaps he would act less like a monster and more kingly in spirit. The real king of the land overhears him and commands that his subjects do exactly as Rabbie suggested. The town does so and the giant is transformed, eventually becoming a protector of the townspeople and a ruler in the land.

As an adult, the cynic in me did struggle briefly. I couldn't help but think that the giant would believe he was being mocked when the townspeople greeted him with flowers, gifts, and kind words. But parables don't have to be perfect--they have to be good stories--and The Giant King fills the bill. Yes, the story could have traded dramatic flow for realism and made the process more gradual, but it is a better story because she didn't. It instead has a certain magical feel to it. And readers are willing to suspend disbelief if you give them a reason to want to.

In addition to being a children's author, Pelley is a storyteller and a playwright. She hails from Scotland--which may be the origin of the Scottish spices that flavors The Giant King--and moved to the United States in 1990.

Maurie J. Manning is the illustrator. The back flap says that her first illustrations appeared on the endpages of the books in her parents' library almost 40 years ago. Since then, she has learned that drawing in other people's books is not allowed, and that it is better to make your own books." And make her own books she has. She is the author of such books as Tea With Mrs. Rosenburg and The Aunts Go Marching. The pictures in The Giant King are very focused, with detail fading in the outskirts of the illustration, keeping our attention where the story is. The partnership between the author and illustrator keeps the pacing and tone of the story flowing, as the author need spend few precious words on description. We see no nobility in the giant from his outer appearance. Instead, we must stretch to see with our hearts the way Rabbie does. The illustrator-by making the giant look disreputable and violent-makes it so that the author does not have to use words to say what she is trying to draw us away from. Instead, she forces us to evaluate how we are making our judgment.

I'm delighted by a book that shows rather than tells that people will rise to the expectations others have of them. Pelley shows us how to look for the treasure that is inside each living creature, how to bring out the nobility and love in those around us. I applaud both her sentiment and the excellent method by which she tells the story. This book has already become a favorite of my son's and he spent an afternoon with Styrofoam, pretending that he was a carver like Rabbie. This is a book that we'll treasure and keep on the shelf as he grows up.

Released in October of this year, book proceeds for The Giant King are earmarked for the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), an association of nearly 1,200 organizations that help abused and neglected children. The Giant King is published by Child & Family Press, an imprint of CWLA.

--B. Redman