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Through a bold palette, the legend of the Pied Piper is artfully enlivened.

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The Pied Piper of Hamelin is set in the north of Germany in the year 1283. It is nearly Christmas and the townspeople are ready to celebrate when a rodent infestation interrupts their everyday lives. The mayor announces a seemingly straightforward proposition: rid the town of the rats and be given one thousand gold coins.
A stranger with a small pipe entices the rats beyond the town gates, but when he is unfairly denied his reward, the story takes an unexpected turn.
Fictional or historical, the medieval legend of the Pied Piper has long fascinated generations of readers with its swarm of rats drawn away by a cloaked stranger and his magical melodies. Now, the beloved tale is given new life with Thomas Baas´ contemporary illustrations in a vibrantly dark palette of blues and reds. The mysterious tale helps teach and reinforce the importance of keeping one´s word and the consequences of broken promises.

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"With its rich and restrained pallet of blues and reds, this bewitching story speaks its dark message of the consequences of not keeping one´s word."

-thelittlebookcollector
"A perfect tale of greed and punishment."

-Well Fleet Library
"The book uses its tall, narrow format effectively to convey the creepy atmosphere..."

-The Horn Book
"As enticing as a piper´s song and twice as alluring to the eye."

—Kirkus

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Thomas Baas studied under the French children´s book illustrator Claude Lapointe at the School of Applied Arts in Strasbourg. He now lives in Paris, where he has worked on numerous children´s books.

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