The King Who Banned the Dark

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I thought that the illustrations were absolutely beautiful and did wonders for my Imagination - the way the dark and dull A little prince who is afraid of the dark vows that he will ban it when he becomes king in this original fairy-tale from British author/illustrator Emily Haworth-Booth. His ministers concoct a plan to convince the people that a world constantly lit is a good thing, and all goes well at first. But soon the king's subjects grow weary of never having the peace and comfort of the dark. They in turn concoct a plan, complete with fireworks display, to demonstrate to the king that the dark can be a good thing... This picture books starts with a boy who is afraid of the dark, like many children are sometimes. Except this boy became King and decided to ban it. His advisors said that would never work, well, unless he made his people think it was their idea. So they started a campaign about how the dark is scary and stealing people's money. The people believed it and started to demand to ban the dark. Soon everybody was tired as they couldn't sleep with all that light on, yet it was difficult to break free of the King's tyranny. When they finally succeeded, they celebrated with fireworks that lit up the dark sky. And the King? He decided to use a night light to be able to sleep.

To re-kindle the exhausted townsfolk’s enthusiasm, the advisors plan a huge celebration with fireworks (seemingly unaware that fireworks can’t be seen in daylight). The people hatch a rebellious plot to switch off the lights and manage to see this through….just in time for the fireworks to begin. Which, of course, are so beautiful and inspiring that the King finally realises the error of his ways. plot พีคมาก ชนิดไม่คิดว่าเด็กจะเข้าใจได้เลย ระหว่างอ่านให้ลูกฟังก็คิดในใจว่า ... "เดี๋ยวๆ เอางี้เลยใช่มั้ย"

A beautiful picture book with a hopeful, rebellious message and effective illustrations using a limited colour palette. A young boy who is scared of the dark grows up to become King and bans the dark...yet even the dark has its uses and its beauty. The people of his kingdom decide to take matters into their own hands after a life of constant light begins to have a bad impact on people's lives.

We could talk about the negative aspects of having your greatest dreams come true and why we need both the good and bad to be happy. A thoughtful read with themes of rebellion, fear and overreaching. On the surface, this is a fun story about a King who fears the dark, and who makes every effort to never have to encounter it again. Putting a ban on the dark, the people live in never-ending light- but it cannot last forever! A closer look reveals darker undertones regarding the power of dangerous ideologies, and how easily thoughts can be manipulated through the spreading of fear by those of authority. This is told with humour throughout, making it less scary and allowing this book to be accessed at different levels by all of the key stages. We loved the acts of defiance from the people that triggered the ending and were happily on board, showing a non-conformist streak that has me both proud and worried. I only wish the redemption arc the king went through could be mirrored in real life by leaders who have made poor choices. The ending was perfect as it was just what we had been shouting at the king at the startA challenging experience can make a young child feel as if they are in emotional free fall. As a parent, you can’t stop them falling, but you can offer them a softer landing: To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticizse power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights. Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny I thought this was a brilliant story, a king who decides to ban the dark as he was scared of it when he was younger. I can imagine many young children may have experienced this and therefore it is easy for them to identify with the character and they may feel more comfortable having these discussions!

London-born Emily Haworth-Booth is an award-winning author, illustrator and educator who teaches at the Royal Drawing School in London. This book works on two levels: first of all, as a great story, and secondly, as an interesting modern fable.' - Juno Magazine Although the book's inspiration was initially about celebrating the beauty of the dark and how removing something so vital could only truly be valued in its absence, Haworth-Booth also saw potential in developing as a more Canutian cautionary tale. The story explores how the general public can be manipulated through dirty politics. You could set up and imaginary newsroom and your child could pretend to be a reporting news from the palace that the dark is going to be banned and why. Children could create their own design for an anti-dark hat. They could think about what they might use and how it could work and label their design. Make a dark and light pictureThis is sophisticated and compelling storytelling about the machinations of politics and manipulating the populace ... The illustrations provide a feast for the eyes complementing the story with comical and delightful touches.' - Armadillo Magazine Discussing the rumours might lead to a discussion of fake news – eg the suggestion that the dark is stealing your money

Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Waterstones' Children's Book Prize 2019, Klaus Flugge Prize 2019 and Independent Bookshop Week Awards 2019 But what happens when nobody can sleep, and the citizens revolt? Will the King face his fears and turn the lights off?June 2019 Debut of the Month | Shortlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize 2019 | Shortlisted for the Waterstone's Childrens Book Prize 2019 But the book has an uplifting end. An active member of the Extinction Rebellion, Haworth-Booth shows us that power need not lie in the hands of those at the top. Instead, grassroots movements can collectively take action and change the state of their own future: something that we are seeing happening across the globe at this very moment. And as with such movements, The King Who Banned the Dark has within it the seeds of such change. It invites readers to question those in power and invites them to consider revolting against a regime in which only those at the top benefit. As I stated at the start of this review, great books invites multiple reading and interpretations; The King Who Banned the Dark is one of the books and it is no wonder that it found itself shortlisted for the prestigious Klaus Flugge prize. Although it offers various topics you can discuss with children, The King Who Banned the Dark is very much a story for adults. Its plot is set in feudal times, but it is essentially about the nature of power. It can be read as a story about totalitarianism, a political system that does not tolerate individuals, freedom of thought or any kind of criticism. It deceives its own citizens for the purpose of achieving its objectives – real truth is unimportant, the goal being rather to convince the people via the media and other means of an illusion that is usually aimed at creating or maintaining some division. In this story, light and dark are a universal metaphor of the division into us and them, into those who belong and those who do not, the dangerous ones who need to be eliminated for our well-being. More than once in history has this kind of manipulation and indoctrination led to the exclusion of Others with terrible consequences. Children will be engaged by the light vs dark dilemma, however adults will be intrigued on another level by the political parodies, crowd manipulation, light inspectors and peoples rebellion elements that are cleverly woven through the story. Having studied graphic design at art school in Aberdeen, I started my career by designing theatre posters and set designs before moving into marketing and advertising. Fast forward 25 years and I have now worked on major campaigns for some of the biggest UK and international brands as well as high street retailers.