The Happy Prince

Gr 3 Up—This shortened and modified adaptation of Wilde's well-known tale of friendship between a beloved prince's statue and a swallow on the way to its winter home in Egypt emphasizes the fantasy of the original. Shearring has added whimsy to the tale by changing the persona of the little bird to that of a child dressed in a white one-piece hooded bird costume, with face and bare feet protruding. By day, the costumed avian fellow dreams of relaxing with radio music, magazines, and a tall drink; by night he pictures his friends relaxing with the ibis birds under the Egyptian sun as he delivers the jewels and gold leaf he has pulled from the Happy Prince's statue to the city's poor. Having removed both of the statue's sapphire eyes, the swallow knows he cannot leave his metal friend ("I cannot leave you, now that you are blind"), and he spends the days telling the Prince stories of his travels, although the Happy Prince says that "there is nothing more astonishing than the suffering of men and women." Many brightly colored illustrations in naive folk art style feature scenes—town plaza, sledding hill, Egyptian oasis—filled with dozens of tiny, flat, simply outlined people. Others show plainly drawn close-up scenes of street life—one of five barefoot children gathered around a trash can fire. A colored drawing of the flame-enveloped statue of the Happy Prince is also included.