{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062059262?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0062059262","authors":["Jules Feiffer"],"book_id":"9780062059260","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/a-barrel-of-laughs-a-vale-of-tears-9780062059260","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062059260.jpg?v=fa9c8109c7a8559d","description":"‘Prince Roger sets out eagerly on a quest and finds a few adventures, a lot of friends, a damsel or two in distress (not!) and himself, in the end. A ‘carrier of joy’ whose mere presence causes everyone to laugh uncontrollably, Roger finds cruelty and kindness equally amusing, and expects his quest to be a lark. It’s anything but: As Roger passes through the Forever Forest, nearly starves at the Dastardly Divide, sees people at their worst in the Valley of Vengeance, and temporarily despairs in the Mountains of Malice, he sobers up, learns to care for others, becomes an expert peacemaker, does Good Deeds, and falls in love with Lady Sadie, who says what she thinks as she repeatedly saves his bacon.’—K. ‘Feiffer’s worldly-wise, confiding tone and sense of the absurd are highly congenial, and the drawings are a vintage Feiffer delight.’—Publishers Weekly. 100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1995 (NY Public Library)","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780062059260","publication_date":"19980307","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"a-barrel-of-laughs-a-vale-of-tears","subtitle":"","title":"A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"JUV012040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Folktale Retellings","score":0.7673,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"JUV031010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Circus Stories","score":0.7649,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"JUV012030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Fairy Tales & Folklore","score":0.7646,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"JUV012040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Folktale Retellings","score":0.7673,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"JUV031010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Circus Stories","score":0.7649,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"JUV012030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Fairy Tales & Folklore","score":0.7646,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"JUV003000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Art & Architecture","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"JUV005000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Boys & Men","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"JUV014000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Girls & Young Women","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"JUV016020","confidence_band":"high","label":"Ancient Civilizations","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"JUV016040","confidence_band":"high","label":"Historical Europe","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"JUV016070","confidence_band":"high","label":"Medieval Tales","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"JUV016210","confidence_band":"high","label":"Historical Middle East","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"JUV019000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Funny Stories","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Folktale Retellings","score":0.7673,"slug":"folktale-retellings"},{"label":"Circus Stories","score":0.7649,"slug":"circus-stories"},{"label":"Fairy Tales & Folklore","score":0.7646,"slug":"fairy-tales-folklore"}],"reader_fit":["Readers who enjoy absurd humor in a quest adventure","Good for readers interested in a carefree prince learning to care for others"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Arnold Lobel"],"book_id":"9781250143662","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250143662.jpg?v=16571b51c7fb0354","score":0.6916,"title":"Prince Bertram the Bad","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250143662"},{"authors":["Lesléa Newman"],"book_id":"9781582462240","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781582462240.jpg?v=9ff78926fce6f1ac","score":0.6882,"title":"The Boy Who Cried Fabulous","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781582462240"},{"authors":["Rob Harrell"],"book_id":"9780147511720","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780147511720.jpg?v=af635ac77a30e5d2","score":0.6875,"title":"Life of Zarf: the Troll Who Cried Wolf","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780147511720"},{"authors":["Gerald Morris"],"book_id":"9780618737437","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780618737437.jpg?v=aec7e78f89f009ee","score":0.6873,"title":"The Squire's Tale","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780618737437"},{"authors":["Philip Pullman"],"book_id":"9780440416616","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780440416616.jpg?v=c3b1a4db6340d3f5","score":0.6839,"title":"I Was a Rat!","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780440416616"},{"authors":["Randall Platt"],"book_id":"9780062643360","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062643360.jpg?v=fb750b436c0a76b5","score":0.6786,"title":"Professor Renoir's Collection of Oddities, Curiosities, and Delights","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062643360"},{"authors":["Edward Eager"],"book_id":"9780544671713","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780544671713.jpg?v=48108ad873d5eb15","score":0.675,"title":"Knight's Castle","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780544671713"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:books for 8 year old girls"],"label":"Year","score":0.8411,"slug":"year"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:ancient history"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:books for 8 year old girls"],"label":"Girls","score":0.4323,"slug":"girls"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:ancient civilizations"],"label":"Ancient","score":0.0259,"slug":"ancient"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Personal growth, Peacemaking, Love.","Story elements: Quest adventure.","Themes: Year, History, Girls."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.87,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["Readers who enjoy absurd humor in a quest adventure","Readers interested in a carefree prince learning to care for others"],"themes":["Personal growth","Peacemaking","Love"],"tropes":["Quest adventure"]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":57,"goodreads_ratings_count":1026,"goodreads_reviews_count":134,"quality_score":0.9232}}