The Tiny King

“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a Tiny King,” Miura (Tools) begins. On the page, the king is no bigger than a fingertip—he’s a cross between a Lego man and a king from a deck of cards. He’s too small to enjoy the kingly luxuries he’s provided with, and he’s lonely, too. In his glorious bathtub, “splishing and splashing all by himself was never much fun.” A solution appears with gratifying speed. “Then one day, the Tiny King fell in love with a big princess”—she towers over him in a huge red triangle of a dress—“and asked her if she would be his queen. She said yes!” Their 10 children (who are numbered, a bit like playing cards themselves), love the bathtub, help devour the banquet the king is served every night, and fill up his big bed. The simplicity of Miura’s story, originally published in Japan, is matched by the blocks-and-toys feeling of the pages, an assembly of cheerful geometric shapes. The lesson that companions are better than possessions is conveyed with bubbly exuberance. Ages 2–5. (Oct.)