#411 of 1001 · September 15, 2021

Smack dab in the middle of Pied Piper Week, we come to Mercer Mayer’s delightful adaptation, in which great focus and attention is given to the rats. More than mere pests, they now represent an existential threat to the townspeople, burrowing into houses, devouring stores of food, ruining usable goods, and even swarming and killing local cats. These anthropomorphized vermin deliberately oppress the humans, cruelly mocking their lifestyle and faith with a disturbing intentionality. The Piper himself, on the other hand, is painted in a much kinder light than usual, luring the children away with the stated motive of sparing them from the townspeople’s greedy and deceitful influence—as an alternative to simply visiting a catastrophic punishment on the whole town, innocent and guilty alike. Moreover, he treats a little lame boy with tender kindness, healing his leg and sending back to the town as an emissary. Mayer combines an animated writing style and engaging illustrations, created with pen, ink, and watercolor, to create a singular vision for this ancient legend. #piper #rat #rats #child #children #german #germany #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks