Jean Dulieu (1921–2006)

i'll start with what i liked, i guess. i was reading this with my kiddo and he really liked the adventure. the idea of the acornmen is creative and fun. the illustrations are amazing (although i'm not sure why paulus looks like a mini santa).

i didn't actually like this, though. the story was repetitive and boring. once the story gets started (and getting there requires allowing for some nonsensical manipulation to happen, just to get paulus where the author needed him to be) the same thing happens over and over again, with no resolution or real growth or purpose. (paulus and his crew of acornmen get blown around by the wind and he has to introduce himself to new acornmen, who somehow don't know of each other but do know already that he is supposed to be their king.) the acornmen are unnecessarily stupid (and that word is used over and over again, which is unfortunate as this is a kid's book) so nothing can really happen or progress, because they can't hold thoughts or ideas or plans in their heads.

somehow, in spite of that, i was interested to see where the story was going. so i never minded picking it back up, i just never enjoyed what happened.

maybe i'm reading too much into it but, also, something else really bothered me. so i didn't like the story, it just didn't feel like a real adventure to me and was disappointing in that respect (although my kid seemed to enjoy it from that perspective). but disregarding that, i question the meaning behind this story. this savior wood-dwarf comes into a community of acornmen and immediately becomes their king. the acornmen can't rule themselves, are too stupid to be in charge of anything, and rely on someone outside their nation to make every decision for them. there are a couple of acornmen with some intelligence, but generally this is a colonial apologist story without the apology. he's a reluctant savior, but a savior nonetheless, and the acornmen are depicted really as not worthy of being ruled or saved. in fact, the story wraps up by them conveniently all disappearing while paulus struggles with whether to stay their king or go home. their stupidity leads to the wiping out of the entire nation, so paulus can go back to his regular life, without a qualm. maybe it means nothing and is just an adventure story (even if not a good one). or maybe it's a terrible message about populations native to specific locales needing to be ruled by outsiders who "know best" for them and that if the natives are left to their own devices they will only destroy themselves.… (mehr)