The Man in the Clouds

Gr 2-4–The man in the clouds lives in a wooden house high atop a mountain. Rising with the sun every morning, he spends his days admiring a splendid painting, “a landscape so beautiful, so marvelously empty… this is what it must have looked like when the world began.” The picture brings him quiet joy, which he shares with a parade of visitors from the village. One morning, a stranger arrives. He is astounded by the painting and tells the man, “You have a fortune hanging on the wall!” From that moment, the man becomes obsessed with his masterpiece. Determined to protect it from thieves, he installs locks and bars, turns away the villagers, and hides the painting. One day, after turning his house upside down to locate his hidden treasure, he realizes that its true value has been lost. It no longer brings him quiet joy. He burns it, removes the locks and bars, and opens his window to behold “a landscape so beautiful, so marvelously empty… this is what it must have looked like when the world began.” Fienieg’s watercolor and pencil illustrations reflect the warmth and sense of welcome the man in the clouds initially provides to his neighbors. Reminiscent of M.T. Anderson’s Me, All Alone, at the End of the World (Candlewick, 2005), this fable gently explores the perils of materialism and the rewards of appreciating life’s simple pleasures.–Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Boston, MA