KING ODORANT AND HIS FLIES

A funny fairy tale about a king who never takes a bath. The king's stench doesn't bother him, as it does everyone else in Reeksland, but the flies that follow him do. Fed up, he orders his wizard to rid his kingdom of flies. The wizard agrees, on the condition that if the king ever changes his mind, he will have to start bathing. When the flies leave, every living thing above them on the food chain follows; by the end of the day the kingdom is empty, and the king very lonely. There's nothing left but to ask the wizard to bring back the flies, and to take a bath. ``That night, the Wizard tucked the king into bed'' and everybody lived happily ever after. The bright watercolors depict fleshy figures, including a king fit to be pinchedsurrounded by a sea of independent actions all going on at the same timecats and dogs holding their noses when the king passes; lobsters carrying suitcases; a worm curled up with a book. The comic illustrations are in perfect harmony with the text; both are informed by the same bonny sense of humor, and the book as a whole radiates good cheer. (Picture book. 4-8)