#864 of 1001 · December 12, 2022

Eric A. Kimmel and Robert Rayevsky present a tale of wit and romance in Bernal and Florinda. The story begins in Seville. A young man named Bernal, possessed of only a field swarming with grasshoppers, is in love with Florinda, daughter of the greedy, arrogant mayor Don Garcilaso. When the pompous official learns that his daughter is being wooed by a man of such little means, he angrily forbids the match. Bernal then cleverly embarks upon a series of trades—a sack of grasshoppers for a goose, the goose for a load of charcoal, the charcoal for fine candles, the candles for a disguise that enables him to orchestrate a false accusation of murder against Don Garcilaso. The mayor frantically promises the mysterious stranger his daughter’s hand in marriage—only to learn that he has been hoodwinked. Kimmel, writing an original story in the tradition of a Spanish picaresque, employs a clever, winning narrative voice. Rayevsky’s thick-lined art, pen and ink with watercolor, portrays characters with comically theatrical poses and expressions. #grasshopper #goose #geese #charcoal #candle #candles #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks