The Saddest King by Chris Wormell

A land in which everyone is happy all the time seems too good to be true...and it is. The people of this charming fable must feign constant happiness by order of the crown, until one day a little boy decides he needs a good cry, and is summoned before the king to explain himself. Wormell's rustic, almost unfinished illustrations give his imagined land a fantastical, fairy-tale feel, and the king first appears as a somewhat sinister figure, with an eerily fixed smile on a dis-proportionally large face. The little boy appeals to the king, whose permanent grimace turns out to be nothing but a mask, under which he hides his true sadness. Moved by the boy's honesty, the king realises that it's alright to be sad sometimes, and that it is better to express your true feelings than bottle them up. A worthy sentiment indeed, especially so for boy readers, who may feel less self-conscious about showing emotions having read this heartening tale.