Rothfuss, Patrick: The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed (2010)
Written by: Patrick Rothfuss
Illustrated by: Nate Taylor
Genre: Not Children's Lit/Fantasy
Pages: 69 (Hardcover)
This is going to be the shortest review ever. Ready?
My Rating
Find a Cheaper Copy: the art is excellent and I really love looking at the details of the background. The black/white/grey tone all seemed bright and sharp on the page. The story itself was suspiciously innocent for a long time, and then took a twist that I was both expecting and not (expecting a twist period, but not the direction of the twist itself). I didn't shell out for the $45 signed edition, but rather the cheaper $25 copy, but it came with a little surprise with a gold sticker (that looks like those gold medals stuck on award-winning children's books) that says, "This shit is not for kids. Seriously." I laughed a long time after seeing that surprise.
It's not a bad little investment. I think if I had kids, and they were of a certain humor/mindset, I'd let them read this (but probably not until they declared indignantly that they were "too old" for children's books). And while I know that this book was most likely a fun brainstorm for the author and probably doesn't take a whole hell of a lot of time (in comparison to a 800 page doorstopper fantasy novel, anyway), is it bad that I wish Rothfuss held off on this project and gotten us Wise Man's Fear sooner? Yeah, I thought so.
Still, cute book, not something I would've normally picked up, but I was buying other items from Subterranean and the art sucked me in. Would I get a sequel? Maybe.
Cover Commentary: It matches the interior art perfectly, and again, I'm quite engaged by how sharp and crisp and clear the illustrations are. The cover is no different, and I like how Mr. Whiffle looks like a long-suffering bear being dragged around by a far too energetic kid.
Next up: The Web of Titan by Dom Testa