King for a Day

King for a Day is a story written by Rukhsana Khan, a Pakistani female. She tells the story of Basant from the perspective of Malik, a young boy. Basant is a kite festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. With feasts and music, the entire city makes their way to rooftops to take part in the kite flying festivities. This year, Malik has build a special kite, the Falcon, which has been built for speed and agility. Although many other kids will have several kites to battle with, Malik put his faith in God that he would only need one. 

The bully next door is battling his kites, too. In two incredible battles, Malik manages to take down his kites and gets back at him for calling his sister a mean word. By the end of the day, Malik has batted many others and has won, earning the title of "King for a Day!" His brothers and sisters help him capture all of the broken kites and they sort through them after the festivities. As Malik looks over the city after the festival, he sees a girl in the alley below being bullied by the boy next door. He steals her kite and she is left crying. In a sudden act of generosity, Malik anonymously throws a kite down to the girl and he watches her happily walk away. 

I really enjoyed this book, particularly because I do not know very much about Pakistani culture and it has always interested me. I thought that Malik was a noble character that proved his determination payed off. Although the story only portrayed this in the illustrations, Malik was in a wheelchair. His personality and spirit were very present throughout the book and were not overshadowed by the fact that he was disabled. I though that this was a great detail that would help connect students to this piece of literature. 

Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed were the illustrations. They are an incredible mix of paper and textiles from Pakistan. The colors are vibrant and capture the colors and textures from the region and show the reader what a celebratory time Basant is. The unique and careful layers of materials also gives the reader insight into the character's culture. 

As a whole, I think that the words and the pictures work really well together in this book. They give the reader a sense of who Malik is and his cultural background. I enjoyed getting to learn about Basant wish that I could experience it myself. 

King for a Day 
By: Rukhsana Khan
Illustrated by: Christiane Krömer

Published in 2013