Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Whipping Boy [Book Review]

"The Whipping Boy" is a book written by Sid Fleischman. It was published in 1986. This book was made into a TV Disney movie, and I am pretty sure I saw it. Because of my random memory, I decided to read this book.

Ironically, I am busy reading Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" right now. "The Whipping Boy" seems to be very much inspired by that classic story, but it is it's own thing. There was a whipping boy in Mark Twain's book, but he was not as an important a character as he was in this one. It feels like the author just got inspired and wanted to make a bigger todo with the idea of a whipping boy.

A whipping boy is a rarely used person who would be punished when a prince acted out. It was done because no one should lay hands on the prince's person. The concept does favor the idea that the prince would be a brat and never have to worry about consequences, because he had a whipping boy to take those consequences for him. That's the general idea of this book.

Although the prince in this story has a name, he is more often called "Prince Brat" and for good reason. He was entitled and did whatever he wanted. In this case, he decides to go on an adventure, bringing the whipping boy with him. This ends up leading them into quite a lot of danger when they are captured by villains who wish to hold them for ransom.

From here, something similar to "The Prince and the Pauper" happens. They switch places. The brigands actually believe the whipping boy is the prince. This deception leads to a lot of silly entertainment, but most of the story has more to do with how their relationship fluctuates as they learn from one another. I won't say more than that.

"The Whipping Boy" is an award-winning children's book. It is actually a good read, and I do recommend it. It did make me smile, and I enjoyed how the characters were represented. Also, I just think the whole idea of the whipping boy in general. It is a concept rife with literary opportunities.

This blog was written on May 21, 2025.

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