Laurence Anholt	and	Arthur Robins
The Emperor's Underwear

Published by Orchard Books, 1996 (hardback) and1997 (paperback).

Everyone knows the story of the Emperor's New Clothes. Now Laurence Anholt has given this traditional tale an intriguing twist as one of his "Seriously Silly Stories" for children. Other titles in the Orchard Books series include Cinderboy and Daft Jack and the Bean Stack. Unlike the original Emperor, this one's empire is naturist. His subjects are real naturists too - lots of children and adults of all shapes and sizes romp around in Arthur Robins's hilariously detailed illustrations. The only concession to the textile tendency is that no genitals or nipples are to be seen.

The tone is set by the title page illustration - the Emperor rides his bike to show off a sandwich board declaring "IT AIN'T RUDE TO BE NUDE". On the following page the story begins "There was once a country where no one wore any clothes at all." But all is not idyllic - the discomforts of hardline naturism in winter are graphically portrayed. The happy realm is disrupted when two subversive textiles appear and persuade the Emperor to let them make him some magic bloomers. These keep him warm without prejudicing his nudity, since they are INVISIBLE! Of course, childish innocence soon spots the deception, but Laurence Anholt is too astute to leave the story there, and we get several more witty insights into textile and naturist lifestyles before an ending in traditional "everybody lived happily ever after" form.

It is difficult to know whether the public at large is really ready to buy a book (and a children's book too) which waxes so lyrical about the joys of naturism. If the only test is whether children will enjoy the story and pictures, then the answer should be an emphatic "yes". My own children are well above the target age range of 3-8, but I think they would have loved this delightful story. If you don't have children or grandchildren this age, don't worry - I don't, but still feel the £3.99 was well spent.

The above is the review I wrote for BN, concluding with the comment: Now then. Who's going to be first to rattle some cages by donating a copy to their local Infant School? Make sure it falls open at page 11: "After all, even strict Headmasters aren't very frightening in their birthday suits."

More recently, I reviewed The Emperor's New Clothes and Monster Mission for the 2004 December issue of H&E Naturist. In search of a reasonable author image, I emailed the Anholt's Website - without any great hope of a response (virtually all other approaches to authors and publishers have been ignored, despite the offer of publicity). I was delighted to get a reply from Laurence Anholt himself, who seemed tickled and chuffed to be asked. He said: "... although I'm not a naturist myself, I am a libertine and fully endorse the rights of individuals to do what they choose so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. If I have one message for kids in this beaurocratic, repressed society, it's 'be as free as you can'" Well said!

Get an idea of the book from these two sample pages.

Laurence Anholt and his wife Catherine have a delightful Website, information about Arthur Robins is available from Orchard Books. You can buy online or from high street bookshops - it's available as a single volume, in the collection Seriously Silly Stories, and as an audiobook read by Neil Morrisey.

Last updated 2004 December 7.
 
Images copyright © various authors, photographers, graphic artists, illustrators and publishers.
Other content copyright © author Tim Forcer

Ratings:

Nudity	Naturist nudity	A good read?

Authors A:Z		Titles A:Z		Publication date
				"
	Up to Yarns Without Threads front page