For those of you not familiar with this Children's story, I will relay a brief summary. Basically, this story describes a rather materialistic king that gets swindled by two thieves. These two thieves come into town, boasting to the king about their abilities to create magnificent clothes. When the king overhears this information, he decides to hire these two swindlers to sew him a beautiful outfit. It turns out, the ""outfit"" sewn by the swindlers is clearly nothing. When the rest of the king's entourage see the clothes, they all admire the great work even though they clearly can't see anything. The king decides to make a public appearance ""wearing these grand clothes"" at a parade. The king then struts out to the streets wearing absolutely nothing. The crowd say nothing out of absolute shock and merely applaud the king as per usual; however, a young child calls out ""But, he hasn't got anything on!"" Suddenly the tension in the crowd is released, and all the adults burst out laughing and pointing at the king.
I remember snuggling on our old family futon couch with my mom reading this book aloud. My seven year old mind was completely scandalized by the thought of a grown man not only venturing outside butt-naked, but also being on full-display for thousands to see. Initially, I had scoffed at the old king's stupidity. Clearly, at seven years old, I knew best and I would never do something so incredibly stupid; however, this story was one of my favorite stories because it was so different than many of the my favorite novels back then including Harry Potter, Charlotte's Web, and Trumpet of the Swan. This story was the perfect children's book to read during bedtime or even reread on a rainy day. Rather than seeing the story as a lesson of any sort, I just read it over and over because it was quite funny.
Now, I still find this story amusing and it remains one of my favorite children's books. However, I'd like to think that I've grown a lot these years and changed a lot as well, and this book's meaning has also changed slightly. I've come to realize many children's books hold key lessons or even morals that are quite relatable to teenagers and even adults now. Today, I see this book reflecting lessons regarding peer pressure, self-absorption, materialism, and honesty.
Most people can relate to the feeling of pretending to know something or pretending to know how to do something despite being clueless just because everyone else seems to have everything all figured out. Similarly, in this story, the people even the king all nervously agree that the ""clothes are quite magnificent."" In society today, many of us pretend to ignore the things that we feel to awkward pointing out and sometimes it takes a child's honesty for us to do something.
Despite the king's obvious self-absorption and materialistic views, I must commend him for the air of confidence he exudes. He calmly sets out into the streets greeting the commoners in nothing but his birthday suit. Sadly, his confidence dissipates soon later, but I respect him for holding that sort of confidence whether or not it was out of ignorant pride or genuine self-confidence. When I called out the king's actions as stupid as a child, I hadn't yet lost all my innocence to the corrupt world of materialism. The depth of the darkness in this corruption was incomprehensible then, but now I'm starting to see how easy it is for people to be succumbed by these worldly temptations.
Reminiscing over one of my favorite children's books has reminded me that I may no longer be a child, but I can still enjoy the simple joys from my childhood.
I remember snuggling on our old family futon couch with my mom reading this book aloud. My seven year old mind was completely scandalized by the thought of a grown man not only venturing outside butt-naked, but also being on full-display for thousands to see. Initially, I had scoffed at the old king's stupidity. Clearly, at seven years old, I knew best and I would never do something so incredibly stupid; however, this story was one of my favorite stories because it was so different than many of the my favorite novels back then including Harry Potter, Charlotte's Web, and Trumpet of the Swan. This story was the perfect children's book to read during bedtime or even reread on a rainy day. Rather than seeing the story as a lesson of any sort, I just read it over and over because it was quite funny.
Now, I still find this story amusing and it remains one of my favorite children's books. However, I'd like to think that I've grown a lot these years and changed a lot as well, and this book's meaning has also changed slightly. I've come to realize many children's books hold key lessons or even morals that are quite relatable to teenagers and even adults now. Today, I see this book reflecting lessons regarding peer pressure, self-absorption, materialism, and honesty.
Most people can relate to the feeling of pretending to know something or pretending to know how to do something despite being clueless just because everyone else seems to have everything all figured out. Similarly, in this story, the people even the king all nervously agree that the ""clothes are quite magnificent."" In society today, many of us pretend to ignore the things that we feel to awkward pointing out and sometimes it takes a child's honesty for us to do something.
Despite the king's obvious self-absorption and materialistic views, I must commend him for the air of confidence he exudes. He calmly sets out into the streets greeting the commoners in nothing but his birthday suit. Sadly, his confidence dissipates soon later, but I respect him for holding that sort of confidence whether or not it was out of ignorant pride or genuine self-confidence. When I called out the king's actions as stupid as a child, I hadn't yet lost all my innocence to the corrupt world of materialism. The depth of the darkness in this corruption was incomprehensible then, but now I'm starting to see how easy it is for people to be succumbed by these worldly temptations.
Reminiscing over one of my favorite children's books has reminded me that I may no longer be a child, but I can still enjoy the simple joys from my childhood.