Synopsis
In this retelling by Marcus Sedgwick, the Emperor is a very proud and vain lion, served by his long-suffering Chamberlain and Treasurer. He's eager to impress his subjects, and when two tailors, appropriately rendered as weasels, come knocking, he has an idea. He'll commission the finest set of robes ever seen! But the devious tailors have plans of their own...- ★★★★☆
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- The author reminds us “How easily people are taken in, even by a tale so very thin!…But the story’s a good one, woven with care. And one that was told with a great deal of flair!” How can we protect ourselves from stories told with great flair? Discuss the following dua (supplication) as a means of protection: “O Allah, enable me to see the truth as truth and give me the ability to follow it, and enable me to see the falsehood as false and give me the ability to refrain from it.”
Mindful Muslim Review
This is an anthropomorphic retelling of The Emperor’s New Clothes, a classic folktale originally written by Hans Christian Andersen, highlighting the vice of materialism and the virtue of honesty. A king demands the best clothing in the kingdom so his subjects think highly of him. What he lacks in self-confidence, he covers up with an ostentatious display of clothing. A victim of his own desires for acclaim and material goods, he falls prey to the lie being presented to him and parades through his kingdom wearing nothing at all. Equally, if not more, disturbing is the collective silence of all his subjects—both the court and the commoners. It takes the courage of the smallest member of the kingdom to speak the truth and reveal the most foolish one of all—the king himself. This timely story highlights the importance of having the courage to speak the truth even when you are alone. Because the illustrations are of animals instead of humans, this retelling is uniquely free from nude drawings found in most versions of this story.
