Copyright 1943
Winner of the 1944 Caldecott Medal
By James Thurber
Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
“Once upon a time, in a kingdom by the sea, there lived a
little Princess named Lenore.”
One day, little Lenore ate too many raspberry tarts and fell
ill. Her doting father, willing to do
anything to make the Princess well, told her he would get her whatever her
heart desired. When Lenore said she
wanted the moon, the King turned to his many knowledgeable advisors for
help. Each of them attempted to convince
the King that the feat is impossible.
When the Court Jester entered the room, the King expressed
his extreme sorrow. How could he get the
Princess what she desires so that she will feel better? The Jester had an
idea. Find out how big the Princess
Lenore thinks the moon is, and how far away.
When the child gazed up at the moon and said that it is a little smaller
than her thumbnail and not quite as far away as the tree outside her window,
and is of course made of gold, the King’s problem was solved. The Royal Goldsmith crafted a tiny round
golden moon to put on a chain for the Princess to wear around her neck.
It just goes to show us that wisdom does not always come
with knowledge. It took the uneducated
Court Jester to solve the King’s pressing problem. He alone had the wisdom to look at the
challenge from a different perspective.
He also had the wisdom to realize that sometimes we make more of a
problem than we need to. Take the time to find out what really needs to
be done – the solution may be simpler than we think.
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