As the boy who lives in a tenement looks out the window on a rainy day, he begins a story about a king, a queen and a little price who visited him, but he was not home. Then, as the story progresses, more days and more characters are added on to the ensemble until on Sunday, when the cast of characters is complete, the little boy is home to greet his company. And, the reader discovers that the little boy's imagination allowed him to invent his company while he was playing with a deck of cards until the sun came out.

There is nothing overwhelming about this book, but I very much like the simplicity of it all. Uri Shulevitz is an amazing Caldecott Medal award winner for his book The Foll of the World and the Flying Ship His illustrations are crisp and clear, whimsical and lovely. ( )

A boy imagines that each day more and more members of a royal court come to visit him, but he's never there to find out what they want. Line drawings with limited color palatte show movement and expression and lead us through the simple text. Cumulative pattern.

The shapes of the royal party, the repetitive childish verse, and the pace make this a favorite tale of more than one child I’ve read it to.

A great read-aloud book for K-1 students. ( )

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Critique: While it is possible to be visited by so many people in one week, it is not plausible for the characters to be the members of a kingdom. In some countries this could still happen, but this is not a very good example of realistic fiction.
Plot: The story is extremely repetitive in the events, it simply adds a new character each day. There aren't any conflicts at all, and the conclusion is rather dull.
Media: Pen and ink, Watercolor
Uses: Review the days of the week, Have students create their own story about receiving visitors. ( )

an elaboration of an old French song