by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 14, 2009   Last Updated: February 03, 2012

The illustrations are gorgeous. Artist Martijn van der Linden actually studied the art of illustration at the Academy of Art in Rotterdam. For "The Prince Child" he was teamed up with first-time author Maranke Rinck. Together they tell a story about animals, celebrating the birth of a new prince and celebrating life.

The book is really a collection of poems about each animal in the jungle, and each present offers a glimpse of the animals' lives. But the first poem creates even more mystery by withholding crucial details. Its title is "Soon," and it describes the sun lighting the valley and the lake. "It's almost time for the party," writes Rinck. But the animals prepare for a party of a guest who's unidentified.

The illustrations are like photographs, which make the characters seem real. First there's a heron, having a silly conversation with the sighing grass. There's a white snow cat, in a conversation with a talking glass ball. The lizard shouts to a friend who is rushing on ahead. But each illustration has bright, brilliant colors, and each animal is realistically drawn in a pose which catches their personality.

And each animal is drawn dressed in strange animal jewelry. Beads dangle from the heron's headdress, and the cat wears a necklace of teeth. The lizard is painted with a white-and-red stripe, and wears glamorous feathers behind its eyes. And the gerbil is carrying flowers.

There's something magical about seeing all these creatures wearing exotic animal jewelry, and preparing for a special animal occasion. And the story includes hints of the wisdom each animal holds. The heron knows that a pretty song "Is made from sounds that come from the heart." And the gerbil knows how to entice flowers to come to the party - by offering the sweetest invitation.

But there's also wonderful hints of their whole magical society. The beaver talks to the water. The marten recites poetry to the chickadees. The monkey girl wishes she could be the kingdom's princess. And the hyena has never seen so many animals gathered around the lake. And best of all, the story builds to a wonderful surprise.

All the animal's pageantry is over a tiny baby frog who floats on a lily pad. Yes, he's their prince - as you can see by his tiny crown. The book ends on a mysterious note - the frog is waiting for a kiss. It's the perfect conclusion to the series of up-close illustrations. Who could know all the secrets of the animal kingdom? Only an enchanted frog-prince who walks among them!

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