King & King is a children's picture book co-authored and co-illustrated by Stern Nijland and Linda De Haan. King & King tells the story of a young prince whose mother is forcing him to find his princess. However, after meeting many princesses, the prince falls in love with another prince. King & King was originally written in Frisian and has since been published in ten languages. The book's illustrations have received both positive and negative reviews, as has the storyline. The book has been analyzed for both its usefulness in the classroom and its challenges to social norms.
The book has gained some prominence due to opposition from social conservatives who believe that children should not see LGBT themes; attention as a result of this opposition greatly increased sales of the book.Julie Flaherty, "Blackboard Reading; The Kings' Queendom", New York Times, August 1, 2004.
Plot "On the tallest mountain above town," the young Prince Bertie still has not married, as is the custom in his kingdom. His mother, a grouchy Queen who is tired of ruling and wishes to pass on the responsibility to her son, insists he must find a princess to marry. The prince tells his mom "Very well, Mother.... I must say, though, I've never cared much for princesses." His mother marches princess after princess through the castle, from places ranging from Greenland to Mumbai, but in spite of their various talents — Princess Aria of Austria sings opera, Princess Dolly from Texas juggles and does magic tricks — they fail to interest the prince (though the prince's page falls in love with the princess from Greenland). After a while, along comes Princess Madeleine escorted by her brother Prince Lee. At the same time, both Bertie and Lee exclaim, "What a wonderful prince!" The princes immediately fall in love, and they begin marriage preparations at once. The wedding is attended by all the rejected princesses and their families; the two princes are declared King and King, and the Queen can finally relax, sunning herself in a lounge chair near the page and the princess from Greenland. The story ends with a kiss between the two kings.
Publication It was originally written in Frisian ("Koning & Koning") and published in the Netherlands in 2000, but has since been published in ten languages. A stage adaptation has been performed globally, from Vienna to Mexico City. In the United States, it was published by Berkeley, California-based Tricycle Press (the children's imprint of Ten Speed Press) in 2002; as of 2009, 20,000 copies have been sold in the United States. At Tricycle Press' request a sequel, King & King & Family, about the kings adopting a child, appeared in 2004.
Style and genre King & King is a fictional children's picture book intended for ages 6 and older that combines both illustrations and text. The illustrations are created as collages with cut paper and mixed-media art, including ink and paint.
The book's illustrations have been a point of disagreement amongst reviewers, who disagree if the illustrations add or distract from the story. The book and the illustrations were critiqued by Horn book Magazine, Lambda Book Report, The School Library, Publishers Weekly, and Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Roger Sutton of the Horn Book Magazine called the illustrations "silly but affectionate collage illustrations." Sutton claims that this style of collage complements the "text for whimsical irreverence."Sutton, Roger. King and King. 78 Vol. Media Source, Inc, 2002. Web. Nancy Garde of the Lambda Book Report also positively reviewed the illustrations. She described the illustrations, noting the fun details and objects to be found on the pages. She also mentions the "colorful cut-paper collages," but she describes them as "big and brash."Garde, Nancy. King & King (Book). 10 Vol. Lambda Literary Foundation, 2002. Web. The School Library described the illustrations as "cluttered, disjointed, ill-conceived art." The review says that the artwork takes away from the overall message of the book, as it distracts the audience from the fun and positive details in the book.Threadgill, Catherine, Phyllis Levy Mandell, and Walter Minkel. King & King (Book). 48 Vol. Media Source, Inc, 2002. Web. Publishers Weekly also condemned the illustration in the book, noting the ugly color scheme, inconsistent body and image shapes and ugly characters. The distasteful images caused Publishers Weekly to recommend a different book with a similarly diverse theme, rather than reading King & King.Roback, Diane, et al. KING & KING (Book). 249 Vol. PWxyz LLC, 2002. Web. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books similarly described the fully filled pages, but rather than describing them negatively, Deborah Stevenson from Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books characterized the illustrations as "joyously informal pageantry."Stevenson, Deborah. "King & King." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 55.11 (2002): 400. ProQuest Central, Research Library. Web.
Reception and analysis King & King has been reviewed by the School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, the Horn Book Magazine and Publishers Weekly.Joyce Howard Price, "Gay princes book irks girl's parents", The Washington Times, March 18, 2004. It earned an Honorable Mention in the "most unusual book of the year" category for Publishers Weekly 2002 "Off the Cuff Awards." San Francisco Chronicle called the book "progressive" and "inclusive" and The Philadelphia Gay News said it was a "great book to teach young readers about same-sex couples." It was an Inside/Out Book Club selection and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist in 2002."Tricycle Press Awards & Honors", Random House, Inc., 2009, page 18.
A program called "No Outsiders," backed by the British Department for Education, used King and King as a teaching tool for introducing students to gay issues, with one of its aims being the prevention of bullying of students who are perceived to be LGBT or who have LGBT parents. The program was inspired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu's remarks, "Everyone is an insider, there are no outsiders — whatever their beliefs, whatever their color, gender or sexuality."
Amy T.Y. Lai's "Waiving the Magic Wand: Forging greater open-mindedness by subverting the conventions of fairy tales" discusses the book in the context of a 2001 Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities article which argues that fairy tales play "an even greater role in shaping lawful behaviour than the recorded law, because it lies at the heart of the children's literary canon and has a much greater claim to universality of influence … Not only do young children lack the critical faculties necessary to challenge the "truth" offered by these stories, but the jurisprudence of fairy tales maps onto a child's developmental phase of moral reasoning."Amy T.Y. Lai's "Waiving the Magic Wand: Forging greater open-mindedness by subverting the conventions of fairy tales", Selected Works, 2010. Lai asserts that King & King is part of a "growing canon of contemporary fairy tales" that challenge traditional doctrines and subvert their ideologies by sidestepping the "trap of prolonging an oppressive punitive system." Lai continues to say that the book challenges social norms "by including many unconventional elements, including single motherhood and alternative families. Most importantly, it lays out a gay-positive story with an ending that is gratifying for all parties, but without consciously constructing something like a judicial opinion that imposes a new legal or, worse still, punitive standard upon its reader."
Opposition
King & King LGBT content—it is believed to be the first image of two men romantically kissing portrayed in a children's book—has led many social conservatives to challenge it, on both a local and a national level. These challenges have included attempts to ban the book, to prevent it being used as a teaching tool, or to restrict children's exposure to it by removing it from school or public library shelves or by placing it in sections which young children cannot access.
Banned book The American Library Association (ALA) "defines a "challenged book" as one that has received a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school. The complaint on a challenged book includes a request that a book be removed from the shelf, or placed in a special section (usually available only to adults).Mubarak Dahir, "Banning Gay Books Books with gay themes are increasingly banned in schools and libraries, and local school boards are taking the heat.", Alternet, September 28, 2005.
In a study of banned and challenged picture and primary books because of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) concerns covering the twenty years (1989–2009) for which data was available, King & King was fourth on the list after Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite (1st), Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman (2nd) and And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell (3rd).Carolyn Caywood, "Using the OIF Database for 'What's So Scary about Tango'", Intellectual Freedom Roundtable of the American Library Association. In their list of all banned and challenged books for 2000–2009, King & King is 20th out of 100. In time for Banned Books Week (last week of September) in 2005, the ALA introduced Banned Books bracelets featuring covers of the popular challenged books, King & King is one of the six offered in children's sizes."ALA introduces Banned Books bracelet", American Library Association, August 3, 2005.
ALA banned books in all categories
2003, 9th 2004, 8th"Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2004: Out of 547 challenges reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom", American Library Association.
The American Booksellers Association, books in all categories
2004, King & King & Family (2nd)"Support a banned book – read it", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 26, 2004. 2005, King & King (4th) 2005"Announcing the 2005 Banned Books Top Ten", American Booksellers Association, August 11, 2005.
The Independent Bookseller Association
King & King was 2004's most frequently challenged title."Fall 2004 Book Sense Picks", Fall 2004.
Controversy in Chicago The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools annually vote to grant an award to a children's book. In 2003, King & King was one of the finalists for this award, which raised controversy amongst parents about King & King's plot. Some parents were angry that the school neglected to inform the parents before teaching their children about homosexual relationships because it is a controversial theme.
The Chicago Tribune attributes this controversy to more than homophobic parents but an increasing unease of the lack of control over their children. The Tribune also uses this book to discuss when parents should discuss controversial topics with their kids.
National significance In response to King & King, Congressman Walter B. Jones (R – North Carolina) proposed a law in 2005 called the Parental Empowerment Act, which would have established national boards composed of parents to review books purchased by elementary schools, and which would have prohibited states that did not do so from receiving federal education funding. "You can't ban the book," said Jones. "This is the only way to do it." The bill died in committee.
In September 2007, Democratic primary front-runners were asked, in one of their debates, their opinion on the book and whether they were comfortable with children having access to it. John Edwards and Barack Obama strongly supported it, while Hillary Clinton described it as an issue of "parental discretion."
Conflict in Oklahoma