#197 of 1001 · February 13, 2021

Humor can bubble up from the simple act of viewing a familiar situation from an unusual perspective. In David LaRochelle and Richard Egielski’s The End, the comical story unfolds in reverse, starting with the happy ending. What led to the knight and the princess falling in love? Well, she poured a bowl of lemonade onto his head. But why did she pour the lemonade on his head? His curly red beard was on fire, of course. And why was his beard on fire? Because, naturally, he’d been tickling a great green dragon. And so goes the backwards tale, winding its way past rabbits, giants, and an enormous rolling tomato, from effect to cause to effect to cause until we reach the event at the root of it all, which ties the entire chain into a surprisingly neat circle. LaRochelle’s lighthearted high-concept slapstick and Egielski’s brightly colored cartoon-style art meld into a deliciously topsy-turvy fantasy farce. The illustrations’ subtle inclusion of a character not mentioned in the text suggests a trace of divine intervention at play. #theend #end #knight #princess #dragon #giant #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks