Cupid and the King of Muck

by Edward F. Sylvia

Cupid is an angel of heaven who is given a divine assignment to change the heart of the fearsome King Babaloney, who rules the terrestrial kingdom of Muck. The King’s worldly power is based entirely on his own selfish whims and ego. This original fantasy reveals a new view of Cupid and a fresh look at the symbolic images we associate with the celebration of Valentine’s Day.

This “read together” family fable was written to open your mind to a fun new look at the symbolism in powerful cultural traditions and universal spiritual values. Cupid and the King of Muck is the first book in a special series from Uncle Ed, “Tales for Children and the Wise,” written to bring out the inner child in the parent and the wisdom in the child.

Enjoying this book together will increase your child’s love for learning. Lavishly illustrated and written with depth, wit and humor, this book makes storytelling fun while expanding everyone’s minds and imagination.

The book includes a list of questions to help spark the kind of discussions that bring parents and children closer—essential in these times when busy families are challenged for time together and even more challenged for the opportunity to connect on meaningful spiritual topics that help kids grow with confidence, humor and love.

54 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Philosopher/Theologian Edward F. Sylvia makes connections between the everyday and the extraordinary with a unique spiritual perspective. Whether he’s talking about “Inner Gardening,” “Neuroscience and Proper Fishing Technique,” or reading his original “Stories for Children and the Wise,” he challenges and inspires with startling concepts and sometimes a touch of humor. He blogs regularly as "TheGodGuy" on a wide variety of topics at http://thegodguy.wordpress.com

Ed attended the School of Visual Arts in New York and went on to a career writing for some of the world’s largest advertising agencies in New York, St. Louis and Chicago. He received his Master of Theological Studies at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA and a Certificate of Swedenborgian Studies from the Swedenborgian House of Studies. He is a member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (C.T.N.S.) and the Swedenborg Scientific Association (S.S.A.). He lives with his wife Susan in a solar house on a ten acre “homestead” just outside St. Louis, in southern Illinois. Edward is continually working on both his inner and outer gardens and has many other projects in the works, including books, articles, documentaries and screenplays.

Award-winning author of three books: Sermon From the Compost Pile: Seven Steps Toward Creating An Inner Garden, a book for anyone who has ever felt a spiritual connection to the garden and the world of nature; Proving God, which fulfills a continuing vision that God’s fingerprints of Love can be found everywhere in the manifest universe; and the recently released Swedenborg & Gurdjieff: The Missing Links (Anti-Intuitive Essays for Personal Transformation). He is currently working on several other books.

Visit Staircase Press for more information.

Reviews

[Meshell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book thanks to a Goodreads competition.

It was a fantastic book that is great to read with kids. Very highly recommended!!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's a clever story told in Uncle Ed's (aka The God Guy 's--check out his blog) inimitable voice of reason mixed with dry wit and droll humor. The cowed, brown-nosed subjects of the selfish King Babaloney surprise their boorish leader with a tower of Babaloneyan cake for his birthday. I thought I knew where this was going, but I was wrong. And now for something completely different--but it works and I was amused. I was amused throughout the story, actually, by Uncle Ed's tone of voice and lines such as "everyone in the kingdom competed with each other as to who could pretend to love their king the most," and "By serving others . . . not by cleverness, vanity and yeast!"

Uncle Ed tells spiritual truths about love that I think anyone who believes in one God would approve of - nothing divisive, except perhaps mention of angels? The story uses some big words and is a bit long and complex for younger kids (subtract one star), but the book is meant to be read aloud by parents--discussion questions are included. Mike Whitney's colorful illustrations are as delightful as the story and remind me of Tomie dePaola's Old World-folklore-style art. As children mature and grow into adults, they will discover and appreciate more and more the nuances of this story that transcends age. I was happy to receive a copy of this book since I enjoy reading The God Guy's occasional "children's story" blog posts. I look forward to more stories, "so let's just wait and see what happens."

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book to introduce myths, biblical, and moral tales. On child level, it is nice and quick to the point. The drawing sometimes reminds me of the Beatles Yellow Submarine which is pleasing to the eyes and the colour palettes is calming. On Adult level, I find myself trying to figure where certain sections of the stories references to actual mythology or biblical which is sort of good "easter egg hunting " moments and can be useful as springboard to expand further knowledge in the story behind the reference if the child responded to it greatly.

(I have won this in Good Reads giveaways)

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I WON THIS BOOK ON A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY.

An enjoyable book for kids. The ratio of pictures to words was just right for a bedtime story, though depending on the age of the listeners, it's a bit long for one sitting. The story brings up many questions, so I don't recommend reading it for the first time at bedtime since the Q&A will go well past bedtime unless you plan ahead. The author has an interesting, witty view of life...for instance, he mentions the "technology and success of the hamburger bun." A clever story that's written simply enough for kids to understand. My favorite line was: "every time a new person enters Heaven,a new kind of fruit appears on The Tree of Life."

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the basic story line of this book in regards to how cupid's arrow came into being but I didn't like the part about the people having brown noses. I thought that was kind of a crude reference and difficult to explain if reading this book to a child. I also felt that how the significance would be made trivial by a holiday later on was not necessary and took away from the story. The illustrations although for the most part were lovely, I didn't like how in the crowd pictures, the people were repeated.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children and adults alike will be captivated by the story of Cupid and the King of Muck. This story tells the downfall of King Babaloney; it is filled with Uncle Ed's underlying sarcastic humor and the illustrations by Mike Whitney are wonderfully vivid (I particularly enjoyed the attention to detail so that every Muckian's nose was tipped brown). This will be a wonderful story to read around Valentine's day and explain why a baby Cupid is always depicted shooting arrows!

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on a goodreads first reads giveaway. I really liked reading this book I thought it was fun and I thought the pictures in book was lovely and bright and the story was very fun and the author also signed it to so that was pretty cool. I really recommend this book to children and also older people can read it to. :)

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written and beautifully illustrated children's book. The story was well thought out and told well/ Whilst I am not fully aware of the concept of St Valentine it made a thoughtful story for young minds.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FANTASTIC BOOK THAT ADULTS AND CHILDREN CAN ENJOY.ILLUSTRATED BEAUTIFULLY TOO.WOULD RECOMMEND TO ANYONE!BRAVO!