This is one our family's favorites. The artwork is detailed and clever (with lots of visual allusions to other fairy tales); and the story is funny and witty. This is a delightful book that never gets old.

I truly enjoyed the book and loved the illustrations by Rohmann, particularly those of the crow. In King Crow the role of the crow is both messenger and trickster. The wounded and blinded King Cormac, left for dead after a decisive battle with the evil King Bregant awakens to find a wounded crow asking for his help. The crow has an arrow in its wing from the battle. Cormac helps the crow and he, in turn, promises to repay Cormac's kindness. While the good king doubts the crow can do much for him, the crow assures him he will, just before Bregant's forces arrive to take Cormac prisoner. The crow arrives three times with news for Cormac in regards to Bregant, acting out his traditional role of messenger. The tidbits of news the crow delivers, however aren't vital pieces of intelligence concerning opposition of hidden troops yet loyal to Cormac or the like, rather they're seemingly insignificant scenes in which the crow finds the King Bregant. By adding a single, telling detail each time, the crow ensures that Cormac will sufficiently unnerve Bregant to the point that the provided visions lead to his deserved ("destined" even) fate. With the addition of these significant details, the crow enacts it's other traditional role, that of trickster. Rohmann's depiction of the crow is wonderful. His soft lines and use of colors make the otherwise dismal black of the crow's feathers seem warm and welcoming. Without forsaking the natural integrity of the crow, he successfully gives the crow expressions, varying from plaintive to conspirative, inquisitive and thoughtful, even concern. Once Armstrong has finished setting up the world and gets the story going, it flows well. The conversations between the crow and Cormac are well constructed. There's a sense of the fairy tale throughout the story and together with Rohmann's art it works well as a whole.

A must have children's book for any parent who has tried to remove a splinter! We borrowed it from the library and needed it for the permanent collection.

This book does an excellent job of telling the tale of the visit of three great African kings to England in the late 1890s. Provides an accurate portrayal of King Khama and his interaction with Joe Chamberlain and Cecil Rhodes. An excellent, factual, entertaining story of successful African resistance.

I'm 11 years old and this is one of my favorite books! I like the adventure in it a lot! When I read this story I feel like I am right there. There is a lot of humor in it and you would really enjoy reading this book!

Impossible to describe this book. I thoroughly enjoyed every page and could not begin to explain why. The setting is medieval and the comedy is purely modern 90's. The King Who Would Be Queen definitely leaves all answers unquestioned

This book is an excellent resource for elementary teachers to use with math problem solving. Students can use the chess board and rice to solve the problem in the book. Students can measure an ounce of rice and figure how much rice is in a pound. Using this literature in a math class will motivate and enhance learning. I highly recommend it for educators.

Benjamin Elkin was a Principal at Roger's School in Chicago and a close friend of my family. "Uncle Ben" retired from teaching about the time I began elementary school, which provided him with the opportunity to visit my classroom at North Shore School on Sheridan Road. He would pass out Brach's butterscotch candies, perform magic tricks, challenge the kids with riddles, and tell tall tales. What a wonderful blessing it was to have an accomplished author visit our classroom (and my home during my younger years).

Of the dozen or so books Benjamin Elkin wrote, The King's Wish ranks among his best. Benjamin Elkin was truly a master storyteller, able to capture a child's attention on Page 1 and hold it until the end of the story. Most of his stories, including the King's Wish, appeal to both young children and beginning readers. This story is filled with wonderful imagery, good guys and bad guys, teamwork concepts, and grand adventure.

The King's Wish is divided into three short chapters. Chapter 1 begins with the King wishing that he could take a short vacation from his busy King's schedule. However, the King is concerned that his three young (teenage) sons are not yet responsible enough to handle the workload while the King is away.

In true Elkin fashion -- many of his stories contain riddles that must be solved -- the King decides to put the three young princes to a King's test. The princes are locked in a room with no apparent way to escape, yet they are told they must find a way out if they are to become kings. Sorry, I won't tell you how they manage to escape; but the princes' ingenuity convinces the King that he can take his long-overdue vacation.

Chapter 2 focuses on the king's vacation. While fishing and camping, the King is accosted by two wiley crooks. But the King, with that awesome red beard, is well loved in his kingdom and a furry friend soon comes to the King's rescue.

In the final chapter, the King awakes early and is getting ready to return from vacation when he notices off in the distance that his kingdom is on fire. How will the good King save his kingdom from burning to the ground? How can he wake the young princes up from their slumber? Its the final riddle of the book and you'll have to read the story to see how it is resolved.

Other stories by Elkin that I strongly recommend: Guillespe and the Guards (runner up for a Caldecott), Such is the Way of the World, the Big Jump (for younger children), the Loudest Noise in the World, Six Foolish Fishermen, Why the Sun Was Late, and Al and the Magic Lamp.

These original fairy tales and retellings of old favorites, of course, all star princesses, but most of them are different from the classics. For example, there's a princess who loves to wrestle and drive forklift trucks, a nasty princess who's a witch, a princess who's been turned into a mouse, and so on. My personal favorite is "Petronella". She's the only princess her kingdom has ever had, and she decides to go out on a quest for a prince just as the princes have traditionally quested for princesses. "The Terribly Plain Princess" who likes to garden is wonderful as well. All thirteen of these stories are great for 3rd to 5th graders to read by themselves, or for younger kids to listen to. Older girls will appreciate the stories, too, especially the ones that emphasize not being a damsel in distress. The stories include: "The Princess and the Frog", "The Princess's Handkerchiefs", "Mousey and Sulky Puss", "The Wrestling Princess", "The Terribly Plain Princess", "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", "The Spider in the Bath", "The Seventh Princess", "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood", "Petronella", "The Princess Who Met the North Wind", "The Cat-King's Daughter", and "The Princess and the Pea".

Kings & Queens by Ronald Pearsall is without question one of the most informative and interesting pieces of work on history of any sort, and is so in a brief and entertaining fashion. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about British monarchy. Before I picked it up, I had only a marginal knowledge about the history of the throne, but after reading through the book (and reading about the interesting monarchs again), I feel like I have a very respectable amount of knowledge on the subject. Not only does Pearsall's witty style draw the reader in, but the pictures of each monarch leave as much an imprint on the mind as the text.

This is a must buy for students of British history.