The Three Robbers

An ALA Book award-winning story by Hans Christian Andersen Prize recipient Tomi Ungerer, The Three Robbers is a children's picturebook about three robbers who steal from carriages and terrorize the countryside. Until one day they abduct a little orphan girl who is glad to be kidnapped, rather than sent to live with her wicked aunt. She notices that they have hoarded all their ill-gotten gains without ever spending them! Finding a new purpose, the three robbers buy a castle where the girl and homeless children from all over can live; when the children grow old enough to found a village, it becomes a village that honors the three former bandits. The simple, stark drawings complement this minimalist-style story about unexpected change for the better in the unlikeliest of people.

The story (which includes a moral) is told in such a way that first time readers won't be able to predict what happens. Skillfully told, and handled in most masterly manner by the stunning artwork. A very enjoyable read that takes less than five minutes.

I just can't say enough about Tomi Ungerer and his books. I don't really run across too many of his stories and growing up, Crictor and Zerelda's Ogre were the only ones I remember as a child. But I work with children now and I'm always trying to share with them some of the books from my youth that I adored. I search for Ungerer's books at the libraries, when ever I'm able to I hunt them down and read them so finding The Three Robbers was really a surprise for me. (If you're in Berkeley or have the ability to get there, the main library has a wonderful selection of his works by the way) The Three Robbers, This story is just a treat. The images are dark yet not scary and the story takes these "bad" men and shows that they are really not that bad. Yes, stealing is wrong, yes scaring people is wrong. But when you take orphans and offer them a home, in a pretty castle? that's so right. The little boy I work with (he's three) just adored the story. So much so that I found I was retelling it from memory to the best of my ability for weeks after we'd initially read it in the library. In fact, we picked it up today and I had to read it four times before we left the library, stop once more on the way home to read it, and then read it again when we got home. I strongly recommend this story to everyone. Really. Update: I'm now teaching preschoolers, and after 2 years, the children change but the interest in the story hasn't. You can't go wrong with anything by Tomi Ungerer but truly, this is one of the top two most popular of his stories I've found. I'm beyond blissful that it's back in print and readily available again. Now if we can just get them to reissue Zerelda's Ogre.....

Nope. I missed this one as a kid. It's funny, because though I clearly remember seeing images from this book on the walls of libraries, cut out in bookstores, and displayed proudly in textbooks, I never read it myself. And you know what? It's an absolutely wonderful book that I am repeatedly regretting and regretting not having read. This story is right up my alley, and it's an amazing tale. In effect, it is a book about the power of redemption and the simplicity of doing what is right, no matter how late in the game. Said author/illustrator Tomi Ungerer himself, "Whatever the color of money, it is never too late to make good use of it". For me, this book is the story of how to make the most of your goods while you've got `em. The tale concerns itself with the doings of three fierce black-clad robbers. Outfitted with a blunderbuss, a pepper-blower, and a huge red axe, the three had a pretty good gig going. One robber would stop carriage horses with his pepper spray, another would stop the carriage completely by destroying the wheels with an axe, and the third would rob the passengers by holding them up with his blunderbuss. Honestly? I just like writing the word blunderbuss. That's a great word. Anyway, one day the men stop a carriage containing a small orphan on her way to live with a "wicked aunt". They rescue her and take her home to live with them. When the child asks them what they intend to do with all of their money, the men are stumped. Their solution is round up all the, "lost, unhappy, and abandoned children" they can find, buy a castle, and move in with all the children. In the end the kids grow up and build three tall high-roofed towers in honor of their foster fathers, the three robbers. The end. I don't really know why I love this tale as much as I do. Partly I think it has to do with the illustrations. The robbers are black on blue, their white eyes floating in front of invisible blue faces. Their weapons, colorfully displayed against a sharp black background, are a beautiful mixture of oranges, blues, and swirling reds. Cheery and intense. After they move in with the children, however, the black and blue palette changes completely and suddenly it's all bright reds (as the children are wearing) and deep spring greens. Accompanying this adept change of pace is Ungerer's text. The book never really explains the robbers' change of heart. One suspects they robbed without entirely knowing why they did so. And isn't that the case of most rich robbers? It is apparent that their care for the children is true and tender. I was especially attached to the shot of the once malevolent robber cradling the sleepy orphan girl in his warm cape as he took her home to stay. The tale has a moral that changes with every reading. Suffice to say, for me this book was about the human heart. Sometimes it takes very little to change behaviors that once seemed so cold and logical. Any picture book that can present such an in