The King's Stilts is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, published in 1939. Unlike many of Dr. Seuss's books, it is narrated in prose rather than verse. The King's Stilts tells the story of King Bertram of Binn, who dedicates himself to safeguarding his kingdom, which lives in a precarious existence. It is surrounded by water, which is held back from flooding the land by a ring of dike trees, which are in turn subject to attack from flocks of nizzards. To protect the kingdom, a legion of Patrol Cats is organized to keep the nizzards at bay, and King Bertram sees to their care personally.
The world around, big and little people walk on stilts. But children like stilts best, because they make them tall. In Asia, stilts are made of bamboo. They can be used to make music if you stand in a circle and pound stilt against stilt and stilt against ground. On the Celebes Islands in the Pacific Ocean, children stand face to face while each lifts one stilt-leg into space, to see who can stand longest on the other.
