''The Whipping Boy'' is a

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

-winning

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

Sid Fleischman Albert Sidney Fleischman (born Avron Zalmon Fleischman; March 16, 1920 – March 17, 2010) was an American author of children's books, screenplays, novels for adults, and nonfiction books about stage magic. His works for children are known for ...

, first published in 1986.

Plot summary

Prince Horace also known as prince brat, frequently misbehaves. Since he is a prince, no one may raise a hand against him. Therefore, his family provides him with a

whipping boy A whipping boy was a boy educated alongside a prince (or boy monarch) in early modern Europe, who supposedly received corporal punishment for the prince's transgressions in his presence. The prince was not punished himself because his royal sta ...

, Jemmy, an orphaned boy who will be punished instead of the prince. Though he has learned to read, write and do mathematics while living in the castle, Jemmy is beaten several times a day and longs for the freedom he had on the streets. When the prince decides to run away on a whim, he demands that Jemmy act as his servant during his journey. While on the run, the boys are picked up by two notorious highwaymen, Hold-Your-Nose Billy and Cutwater, who hatch a scheme to ransom the prince. Jemmy talks them into believing that he is the prince, and sets into motion a plan of escape. The prince misunderstands Jemmy's intentions and betrays him. Nonetheless, the boys escape. They come across a girl named Betsy searching for her lost dancing bear, Petunia, and she directs them to the river where they find a kind man with a wagon full of potatoes. The boys help the man - whose name is Captain Nips - get his wagon out from the mud, and in return, the potato man gives the boys, the girl, and the bear a lift to the fair, but they are soon intercepted by the highwaymen. Still believing Jemmy is the prince, and believing it to be a crime worse than murder to beat the prince, they beat Horace instead. Petunia scares the highwaymen away, and everyone arrives at the fair. Betsy earns a few coins with her bear, Captain Nips boils the potatoes and sells them, and Horace and Jemmy head down to the sewer to catch some rats. On their way, they hear some people talking about the missing prince - one woman makes a remark about how much worse things will be when the prince becomes king. Horace's feelings are hurt very deeply, but he does not show his emotions. When the boys learn that the king has posted a reward for the whipping boy, who has been accused of kidnapping the prince, they go into the sewers where they see the highwaymen. They trick the highwaymen into the most dangerous sewer, where rats attack them. Afterward, the prince decides that he wants to finally go home. When they return to Captain Nips, Horace reveals himself as a prince and suggests that the potato man collect the reward for capturing the whipping boy.

Film adaptation

Fleischman's book was adapted in the 1994

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

television film ''Prince Brat and the Whipping Boy'' starring Truan Munro, Nic Knight,

George C. Scott George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director, and producer who had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his port ...

Vincent Schiavelli Vincent Andrew Schiavelli (; November 11, 1948 – December 26, 2005) was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television. Described as an "instantly recognizable sad-faced actor", he was diagnosed with Marfan s ...

Mathilda May Mathilda May (born Karin Haïm; 8 February 1965) is a French film actress. Early life May was born in Paris, France. Her father, playwright Victor Haïm, is of Sephardic Jewish ( Greek-Jewish and Turkish-Jewish) descent. Her mother is the Sw ...

, and Kevin Conway, and directed by Sydney MacArtney.

wrote the teleplay and the film won a

CableACE Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Amer ...

that year.

Musical adaptation

As of 2016, a musical adaptation was reported to be in the works with music by

Drew Gasparini Drew Gasparini (born April 20, 1986) is a songwriter and musical theatre composer/lyricist, best known for writing songs for season 2 of '' Smash'', as well as the scores for the Broadway musicals ''The Karate Kid'', '' Skittles Commercial: The ...

and book by Alex Brightman, with both contributing to lyrics.''Whipping Boy'' and ''It's Kind of a Funny Story'' Musical Adaptations In the Works"
Playbill.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22

Awards and nominations

''The Whipping Boy'' won the

in 1987.

References

External links