I have to admit that when I first saw Jane Ray's illustrations I wasn't sold, for some reason characters faces didn't quite warm to me. However after reading The King Of Capri I completely understand why people love her.
Essentially a rags to riches book but set among the most beautiful pages... After a fierce storm one night, the greedy king wakes up to discover that all his belongings have blown over to the bay of Naples, his beautiful silk clothes and valuable treasures.
Over in Naples the town is in chaos, the storm has uprooted everyone's belongings and everything has landed within other people's gardens! A lonely, humble washerwoman and her Italian speaking cat, Wash, have woken up to find countless expensive and useful items in their garden and become very prosperous indeed, of course kindly sharing their new found wealth.
Some time later, the penniless king visits Naples and bumps into the washerwoman wearing his silk pyjamas! They soon become great companions and share their fortune, the king realising that wealth isn't everything. It just goes to show you should never just flick through a book and judge it by it's illustrations, Ray has managed to perfectly capture Winterson's story and add to the delight of this classic tale.
Recommended age 4+
Published by Bloomsbury in paperback and is £4.99
Images from the Illustration Cupboard website - www.illustrationcupboard.com
