King for a Day Hardcover – Picture Book, January 1, 2014

Our family really enjoyed this book. The illustrations are colorful mixed media collages that lend themselves well to the story. The book follows a boy on the day of the Basant festival in Pakistan, when the children test their kite's ability to cut down other kites' strings. The child with the last kite standing wins the title of king of Basant for being the best kite fighter.There is an information page at the back of the book about Basant and kite flying, which includes additional details for a teacher or curious child, such as how the kite strings were traditionally coated with glass or made from metal to better cut kite strings and how kite flying is currently banned in the city of Lahore, where the story takes place.It was nice to see a main character in a wheelchair where the wheelchair has nothing to do with the story. We never learn whether the boy has spent his entire life in a wheelchair or whether it is a temporary accident and it does not matter either way. I must admit to being curious about how the child got up to the rooftop where the kite fighting is conducted.There are many similarities in the plot of this book that seem to be taken directly from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini but children wouldn't be familiar with his work so for them the story is still fresh.I'm on the fence about the mention and treatment of a character in the book who is simply called "the bully." As a reader you are asked to accept that this child is a bully while the actions of the main character and his sister are equally bully-like in the beginning (they shout back at him and intend to "make him pay" and "get back at him" by cutting down both of his kites). Bullying is an issue children face everyday so it needs to be addressed in books, but I'm not sure I want role models for my children where standing up to a bully means being a bully back. At the end of the story the bully does behave badly toward another child and the main character is able to show a generosity that does indeed make him a king for a day.

I bought this book for my children, a 6-year-old girl and a 4-year old boy. They keep asking me to read it to them! The illustrations, are whimsical and visually intriguing. This multicultural book has it all - a main character who is in a wheelchair (my children didn't comment on this fact until the third reading), a bully who is outwitted by the main character, a strong bond among siblings, a festival of kites....we love this book, and highly recommend it to others - you won't be disappointed.

This is a gorgeously illustrated and moving story that is neither patronizing nor Orientalist in its depictions of Pakistani children. It is also a simple narrative with a lovely message that all families will understand.

My little girl loves this book: the bully, the kites, God, the little girl. All of it

It is a great book! Came in great conditions

Basant is the kite festival of Pakistan, where children everywhere have a sort of "kite battle" to try to be the King of Basant. My only previous knowledge of the kite festival came from The Kite Runner, so I was relieved to know that nothing so horrible happened in this book (if you haven't read or watched The Kite Runner, some HORRIBLE things happen in it...it's very traumatizing). The worst thing that happens in this book is that a bully makes fun of the other children and then gets his comeuppance in the form of kite-based defeat, though I may have read more subtext into it than necessary because of my previous experience with The Kite Runner. You know what? I think I'm just going to turn this whole review over to my daughter, Magda.Magda's review:So when I get older and I travel, I hope I'm going to get to go to Pakistan where the kite festival is, and then I can see the kite festival. And they'll say, "Do you know what today is?" And I'll say, "Yes, it's the kite festival day!" I'll know because I already read this book! Can we go fly a kite now, Mommy?For more reviews (including my daughter Magda's) visit my blog, Cozy Little Book Journal.

I've been searching for a story based in Pakistan for sometime. This is perfect.