Read Me This Book: The Three Robbers

I admit that Sloane did not pick The Three Robbers as a bedtime story.
I did.
But the cover art with three villainous characters and one huge red axe caught her attention, and she agreed.

Now, this picture book is included in our rotation of bedtime reads.

SUMMARY
The Three Robbers is a simple folk tale and begins as most folk tales do:

“Once upon a time, there were three fierce robbers.”

These fierce robbers terrorize travelers using three very dangerous -but attractively illustrated – weapons:

• Pepperblower: “To stop carriages, the robbers blew pepper into the horses’ eyes.”
• Huge Red Axe: “With the axe, they smashed the carriage wheels.”
• Blunderbuss: “And with the blunderbuss, they threatened the passengers and plundered them.”

The robbers carry their stolen goods to a cave high in the mountains. One night they stopped a carriage, and take the only thing of value, a little girl name Tiffany.
When Tiffany sees all the treasure piled into the cave, she asks the robbers what they intend to do with their trunks of gold?
A change of heart ensues, and the three robbers decide to use their ill-gotten gains to help lost or abandoned children.

AUDIENCE:
Words such as “threatened”, “plundered”, “loot”, “abandoned”, and “blunderbuss” are not the usual vocabulary a reader expects in a picture book for children. But, the vivid illustrations in primary colors (dark blues, bright reds, and creamy yellows) will capture the attention of even the most distracted toddler.

Moreover, these illustrations help to define the words.
Faceless, the robbers’ eyes peer out from under their enormous black caps. (“threatened”). The passengers are seen being robbed (“plundered”), a small child is left alone on a doorstep (“abandoned”), and that “huge red axe” is huge and red…and menacing!

That said audiences from ages 3 to adult will enjoy this picture book, although many recommendations place the text in ages 8-14.

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR:
The French author/illustrator Jean-Thomas Ungerer published The Three Robbers in 1961. (Tomi) Ungerer grew up in the Nazi occupied region of Alsace, France. That experience may account for the sometimes dark turns one might read in his books or see in his illustrations.

As a young man, Ungerer was influenced by illustrations in The New Yorker magazine. From 1951-1974, he wrote and illustrated over 30 children’s books (including the notable Moon Man and the art for the first editions of Flat Stanley) before switching to writing satire and more adult themed literature. (including the 1964 film poster design for Dr. Strangelove) .

He was awarded the Commander of the Legion d’Honneur (2018), and the
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration (1998).

Ungerer passed away in 2019. His website: https://www.tomiungerer.com/books

READING OPPORTUNITIES:

The Three Robbers was a favorite bedtime read of Sloane’s father. He would echo back the words to me as we read…”blunderbuss”…”axe”…”plunder”.
He was not interested in Tiffany.
He liked the robbers.

The book has little text in its 40 pages. I found a used copy several summers ago, and I put it aside so that we would always have a copy. I did not want this title to disappear into obscurity.

I need not have worried. This past June 2025, The NYTimes Book Review published The Lemony Snicket Anti-Summer Summer Reading List for children. There was The Three Robbers, #3 on the recommendation list for children 8-14.

In his review, Snicket poses the question, “What child ever forgets their first encounter with the word ‘blunderbuss’?”

Really, what child would?