The Pillow King

Teya Rosenberg is an assistant professor of English specializing in
children’s literature at Southwest Texas State University.

King Rednow’s throne is covered with pillows and his favorite thing to
do is to “fouff” them—that is, to bounce up and down on
them—when no one is around. One day, while he’s away, the pillows
disappear. A falling star gives the king a clue as to who has stolen the
pillows, and he goes looking for Gnuj, the troll. After a long battle,
King Rednow regains his pillows and returns home. At this point, the
narrative reveals that King Rednow is a baby who has fallen off

his bed.

The dream vision or dream journey has some fine examples in
children’s literature, such as Alice in Wonderland or Jacob Two-Two
Meets the Hooded Fang. In The Pillow King, however, it falls short.
While the book’s opening is odd and some of the story would fit in the
tradition of the surreal or subversive literary folktale (think Roald
Dahl), the ending is too sweet and undermines the rest of the tale. The
pen-and-ink drawings are too detailed and fussy to effectively
communicate the elements of the story, although the pictures of the
troll are entertaining. There are hints of promising material in this
book, but as a whole, it does not work. Not recommended.