I’ve mentioned before that I was a late bloomer when it came to reading. Not until I was 15 or 16 did I ever read anything on my own, and only in college did I begin actually to love reading. As a result, there were many children’s authors I never got to know. But then I became a parent.

Ever since I started reading to my kids—a habit we recently picked up again!—I’ve finally got the chance to enjoy some authors that should have been favorites all along: Laura Ingles Wilder, C.S. Lewis, and especially Roald Dahl.

Only within the past year have we come across Sid Fleischman, which is astounding, since the man was a prolific writer for six full decades! We started with By the Great Horn Spoon! and then read Escape! before adding this Newberry winning title to our “Cousins’ Book Club” list for 2025. Short as it is, this was a pleasant read.

Quick Summary

The Whipping Boy is a live-action fable, where an abused slave and a spoiled prince find themselves away from the protection of the castle and thus dependent upon each other for safety and survival. The only trouble is, they hate each other.

As a fable designed to teach, it includes some profound lessons, despite the cartoonish setting. Prince Brat eventually learns to empathize with the person who’s been most hurt by his own selfishness and gluttony. Jemmy in turn learns of his own usefulness, despite his lowly state, and also that simply hating things won’t help him ever to change them.

Response

My kids both enjoyed this story, though at ages 12 and 14, they’re definitely beginning to age out of this kind of reading. Of course, I don’t believe one should ever age out of reading great children’s books, but I’m a bit biased.

My daughter thinks that Fleischman must have always written about boys and for boys, though she added that she doesn’t mind, as long as the stories are good. It’s a great perspective to have when reading, and it’s one I need to learn myself! I think my male-to-female author ratio on this blog is somewhere near 10:1!

Conclusion

We’re doing quite well in our Siblings’ Book Club so far in this, our first year. Although I’ve still got a few titles to review, we’re already 70% of the way through our list.

I think we’ll arrange another round for next year that keeps us all reading together, and including more Newberry winning titles like The Whipping Boy will help me catch up on my childhood.

I hope this habit of ours never dies.

©2025 E.T.

Read More from Sid Fleischman:

• By the Great Horn Spoon! (1963)
• The Whipping Boy (1986)
• Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini (2006)