The King Who Banned the Dark

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LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Together you could role play a scene from the story with one of you being the king and the other one of the advisors. This book works on two levels: first of all, as a great story, and secondly, as an interesting modern fable.' - Juno Magazine A beautiful picture book with a hopeful, rebellious message and effective illustrations using a limited colour palette. A young boy who is scared of the dark grows up to become King and bans the dark...yet even the dark has its uses and its beauty. The people of his kingdom decide to take matters into their own hands after a life of constant light begins to have a bad impact on people's lives. The King ultimately learned to face his fears, trust his own instincts (he stopped listening to the advisors) and admit he had made a mistake. He showed forgiveness (he did not punish the people for rebelling against him). He learned to appreciate the dark, turning a negative view into a positive one.

A thoughtful read with themes of rebellion, fear and overreaching. On the surface, this is a fun story about a King who fears the dark, and who makes every effort to never have to encounter it again. Putting a ban on the dark, the people live in never-ending light- but it cannot last forever! A closer look reveals darker undertones regarding the power of dangerous ideologies, and how easily thoughts can be manipulated through the spreading of fear by those of authority. This is told with humour throughout, making it less scary and allowing this book to be accessed at different levels by all of the key stages.There was once a little boy who was afraid of the dark. There's nothing unusual about that. Most children are afraid of the dark at one time of another. But this little boy was a Prince, and he decided that when he became King, he would do something about the dark. He would ban it. When the King bans the dark completely, installing an artificial sun, and enforcing anti-dark laws, it seems like a good idea. The citizens don't need to worry about any of the scary things that might live in the dark. But what happens when nobody can sleep, and the citizens revolt? Will the King face his fears and turn the lights off? We could talk about the negative aspects of having your greatest dreams come true and why we need both the good and bad to be happy. Create a dark space with curtains drawn and the lights off or a blanket over a table and shine a torch to look at the shape of the light and patterns you can create. Write a news report A truly fresh and formidable debut by Emily Haworth-Booth. This is an outstanding first offering from the multi-faceted author/illustrator, undoubtedly a new name to keep an eye on.' - Picture Books Blogger

The King Who Banned The Dark is a story that can have different interpretations; on a simpler note it can be about how we need the dark as well as the light, making it a wonderful book about the fear of the dark and appreciating the beauty of the light. On a deeper level, as I've read in a few places, this book can be interpreted as being a bit more political - people have got power and can revolt against decisions taken by the leaders which may not be for the benefit of the people, and how decisions can be manipulated. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticizse power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights. Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny Readers can only hope that, as in this story, they will live to see a rational resistance to superficiality, to that constant dazzle, behind which no true, real content is concealed. For when it became clear that all were tired of so much light and celebrating and that they needed a change, the guards had to be outwitted, and the artificial sunlight switched off. At this moment, The King Who Banned the Dark becomes a story of resistance and the possibility of the individual to oppose the unthinking, automatic and often dangerous straying of the mass. Some people will be able to separate themselves from the crowd, shout that the emperor has no clothes, and really set off and work for their own and for the common good. Real changes will be instigated by thinking individuals who want to do good, especially if they have some help and don’t feel completely alone in their efforts. That is what happened in this story – organised resistance bore fruit.Think together about what the king tried to do. Should he have done this? What advice would your child have given to the young king about his plan? Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Having studied graphic design at art school in Aberdeen, I started my career by designing theatre posters and set designs before moving into marketing and advertising. Fast forward 25 years and I have now worked on major campaigns for some of the biggest UK and international brands as well as high street retailers. A king has a fear of the dark and so he decides to ban it completely. A class could discuss the impact of fake news in our current society and the importance of having a critical eye when reading. It links nicely to science, looking at light and dark - why we need both of them and what else might have happened in the kingdom when there was only light. The King Who Banned the Dark is also a story about the importance of diversity and contrast. When the dark was first banned, people liked it, because they could stay awake and celebrate all day long. But they got very tired soon because, naturally, people need the dark to value the light and to be able to recognise it at all. This is illustrated by the effective metaphor of the firework display at the end of the tale. The royal advisers put on the fireworks for the people, but the huge artificial sun created such a bright light that the fireworks could not be seen at all. The message is clear: we need the dark to be able to see the light, and to sleep, and to rest. Life under the constant glaring sun can literally be interpreted as a method of torture – prisoners are sometimes driven to insanity with the constant bright light in their cells that makes it impossible for them to focus, losing their sense of time, and being incapable of thinking and resting. But this constant illumination can also be considered as a metaphor for excessive staring into dazzling screens. For normal functioning, and particularly for creativity and thinking, people need moments of silence, nature, contemplation, reflection and being alone. Yet today it really seems increasingly hard to find them.

In her 1951 book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt writes that the essence of totalitarianism is to convince a people that it is real. She says that the strength of totalitarian propaganda inheres in its ability to isolate the masses from the real world, to behave as if the new reality is the truth, and to normalise it. If everyone in a society, or at least the great (mainly unthinking and passive) majority starts to be convinced that the false is true, a fruitful platform for all kinds of manipulation is created. This is also a vitally important message for democratic society today – the story reminds us that truth does exist and that it is extremely dangerous to forget it, to stop wondering what is correct and what is incorrect. Thus begins The King Who Banned the Dark, a complex, multiple award-winning picture book for adults and children by the English writer and illustrator, Emily Haworth-Booth, published by Pavilion Books in 2018. Also as a post discussion, we could make some cross curricular links! Yes, no dark means no sleep! But what else wouldI thought this was a brilliant story, a king who decides to ban the dark as he was scared of it when he was younger. I can imagine many young children may have experienced this and therefore it is easy for them to identify with the character and they may feel more comfortable having these discussions! To re-kindle the exhausted townsfolk’s enthusiasm, the advisors plan a huge celebration with fireworks (seemingly unaware that fireworks can’t be seen in daylight). The people hatch a rebellious plot to switch off the lights and manage to see this through….just in time for the fireworks to begin. Which, of course, are so beautiful and inspiring that the King finally realises the error of his ways. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments This is sophisticated and compelling storytelling about the machinations of politics and manipulating the populace ... The illustrations provide a feast for the eyes complementing the story with comical and delightful touches.' - Armadillo Magazine