The Wall: A Timeless Tale

by Giancarlo Macri (Author) Mauro Sacco (Illustrator)

The Wall: A Timeless Tale
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Wonderful things can be accomplished when people come together!

In this moving story, a king banishes anyone who looks different than him and builds a wall to keep them away. Soon, he sees that without people with various types of talents and expertise, his kingdom can no longer flourish. Realizing his mistake, he orders the wall to be knocked down so he can meet and thank all the talented people that make the community beautiful.

With simple yet profound illustrations, pop-up and disappearing wall elements, and an important lesson about diversity that's relevant to the world today, children will see how a society can be harmed when barriers are built and thrive when people work together.

From the same authors of the popular children's books We Are All Dots and Mario and the Aliens, Giancarlo Macri and Carolina Zanotti provide more tender wisdom in The Wall, along with the colorful visual aid of illustrators Mauro Sacco and Elisa Vallarino.

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Publishers Weekly

Told as a dialogue between a willful king and a tactful servant, this fable from an Italian team looks at what happens when a country shuts out people who don't look like others. "How did so many different people end up in my kingdom?" the monarch complains, before ordering the servant to "banish everyone who doesn't look like me." Married illustrators Sacco and Vallarino populate their spreads with hundreds of small faces all crowded together. At first, they're a rainbow of colors--a fine representation of diversity. The king and his servant, seen among the throng, are blue; after the ban, mostly blue faces remain on one side of the page, divided in some spreads from the colorful group by a pop-up wall. "Build a wall to make them stay out of my kingdom!" the king says. "Most Magnificent Majesty," the servant counters, "you already sent the wall builders away." Readers will see before the doltish king does that it takes a diverse populace to create the richness of edifices, art, and science the king desires. Macri and Zanotti (We Are All Dots) make it clear that shutting people out only weakens a kingdom, and they do it with laughter, not argument. Ages 7-9. (July)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Visually compelling —Foreword Reviews

Giancarlo Macri
Giancarlo Macri is a journalist, writer, actor, and musician, born in Mileto, Italy. He formed the Banda Osiris an Italian music and theater ensemble. He is the author of several children's books.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781641240383
Lexile Measure
510
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Happy Fox Books
Publication date
July 09, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039120 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Prejudice & Racism
JUV034000 - Juvenile Fiction | Royalty (kings queens princes princesses knights etc.)
JUV074000 - Juvenile Fiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Library of Congress categories
Identity
Picture books
Kings, queens, rulers, etc
Identity (Philosophical concept)
Kings and rulers
Ability
Discrimination
Group identity
Belongining (Social psychology)
Despotism

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