The King's Legacy: A Story of Wisdom for the Ages

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (9/09) "The King's Legacy" tells the tale of a wise king who desired to leave the greatest possible legacy to his people before he ended his reign. He wanted this legacy to last through future generations as well. He also desired to step out of the realm of the materialistic and leave something behind that would have greater meaning. He settled upon the idea of finding the best possible piece of wisdom that would affect all people. He wanted them to apply this wisdom to their lives so that they could better themselves with it. In order to find this piece of wisdom, the king decides to interview people from all walks of life, from jester to judge, he listened to what everyone had to say. Each person who spoke offered a piece of wisdom that was taken from what they learned based upon their work. Each piece was incredibly valuable, but the king still searched for the perfect piece of wisdom that could be imparted to all. Finally, on the last day, he receives this wisdom. He shares it with his people, and their lives are enriched. I won't give it away by sharing it with you. You will have to read for yourself. I will say that the journey that the king took to gather this wisdom was incredibly enriching to me as a reader. I think that what each person had to offer was of great value and cause for introspection. I highly recommend reading this novel through, and then going back and taking a day to journal about the wisdom that each contributor offers. By applying it to your life, I think that you will find more meaning in everything. There is a section in the back of the book specifically for putting your thoughts. "The King's Legacy" by Jim Stovall is written and illustrated in a fairy tale style. While the story appears to be simple, there is an incredible amount of depth to it. At first glance, I felt like I had my hands on a real treat. After reading through it and thoroughly enjoying it, I felt that it would make a perfect gift for others. It would also make an excellent selection for a reader's group.

I loved this book, it is well writen and I didn't want to put it down. This book is the classic Fable and has a wonderful message. The King is looking for The Wisdom of the Ages to leave as his legacy. Each day the King has a different subject tell what they think the wisdom of the Ages is, in seeking the answer we see everyone has different ideas. This is a great read that I think children to adults would enjoy. I honestly can't say what age this book is aimed at as I can see all ages loving it.

"The King's Legacy: A Story of Wisdom For The Ages" is a charming fairy tale-style parable by the author of "The Ultimate Gift", Jim Stovall. It chronicles the story of a king who desires to leave a remembrance of his reign behind when he is no longer on the throne. He hears the advice of several subjects, and decides to pursue what he feels is the best idea for a legacy: wisdom. The drawings in the book took me back to my own childhood and a time when I loved to be read to while I looked at the pictures. Alright, I admit I haven't outgrown that. But this is a beautiful book about the search for wisdom (and what true wisdom really is) that will appeal to all ages. Maybe my family (our kids are both teens) will take this book as one of our summer "read to each other" books.

This edition of The King's Legacy is the second printing, a gift edition with a presentation page. This little book by the best-selling author of The Ultimate Gift is a fast read and attractively illustrated with black and white sketches. The introduction was friendly, thanking me for investing time in reading this book. Stovall won my attention right away when I read, "My greatest desire is that your investment of time will be richly rewarded and pay wonderful dividends for the rest of your life." Yeah, you and me both. In this economy we can all use a few wonderful dividends. The story sounds like a fairy tale, of sorts, but a search for wisdom has timeless value, the kind that comes with dividends. Stovall weaves a tale of an enchanted kingdom long ago and far away, where a king decides to leave a legacy. One of his wise men suggest that a legacy of the Wisdom of the Ages would be lasting and worthy of a king. The king agrees and so begins a search for the Wisdom that would be a tribute to the king and his rule. All of the king's subjects are invited to share wisdom. In turn, the king and his wise men listen as each relate wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of work. Men from all walks of life come before the king to share: a merchant, soldier, poet, farmer, physician, jester, teacher, traveler, town crier, banker, hunter, historian, laborer, scientist, judge and elder. An outspoken woman dares to share lessons she's learned as a parent. Each subject has a unique perspective to offer, but the king finds it difficult to label any of their contributions as the Wisdom of the Ages, the Wisdom above all others. Just as the king decides to end the search and declare the Wisdom of the Ages, the king finds the Wisdom he seeks from an unexpected subject. This was something of a Commoners Got Wisdom contest that kept me turning pages and wondering how I would sum up wisdom to meet the challenge. The kingdom setting and contest of sorts premise of the story make it fun and easy to keep turning pages. I enjoyed the search, listening and mulling over each subject's statements that contained a lot of wisdom but was it the wisdom the king sought as a legacy? Was it the best of the best? And, if the king's wise men didn't know, who would? How would the search end? The King's Legacy is packed with wisdom, big and small, practical and timeless. It is informative but dressed in fancy costumes. I would have liked to hear more women represented, but the kingdom setting kept most at home, talking to children and family members, not the king. Too bad. All in all, this was a fun read as well as informative. The legacy when it was finely unveiled was satisfying and worth the journey. The King's Legacy: A Story of Wisdom for the Ages holds timeless truths for any age.

Jim Stovall is popular speaker and has written several books. Another book I've read by this author was, The Ultimate Gift, it's an amazingly powerful book that's been made into a movie - that's really good; make sure you watch it with tissues handy- it's a tear jerker. This book is written in a fairy tale fashion. Each chapter has a picture on the left hand side and the beginning of the chapter on the right. The first sentence of this book starts out, "ONCE UPON a time, there was an enchanted kingdom in a land far, far away...." The king summons his wise men together and says, "Now that our land is enjoying a season of prosperity and peace, I wish to leave a permanent legacy of my reign as your ruler." After talking to his wisemen the King realizes that he can't do this task alone. He starts to seek the wisdom outside his counsel and opens up talks with people from all walks of life. Each chapter of this book is about the King giving audience to his people from all walks of live, in search for wisdom; the very wisdom that will benefit all people and forever improve the lives of all humanity. Some of the people the King talks to are a merchant, a soldier, a poet, a farmer, a physician, a jester, a teacher, a parent and so on. The book ends with two chapters called `The Wisdom of the Ages' and a special chapter just for you called `The Wisdom of You.' This small book packs a thought provoking punch. It gives you a glimpse of so much wisdom from so many angles. I enjoyed it. It doesn't take long to read. I think it's something I'm defiantly going to read to my kids. Finding Hope Through Fiction Book Club Servant Leader