Tuesday Storytime: Lions

Three fun lion books today, and a great length for my kids.

The Show-and-Tell Lion
Barbara Abercrombie, illustrated by Lynne Avril Cravath
ISBN: 9780689864087
Blurry watercolors and minimalist blocky backgrounds.

I can't believe I haven't used this book for storytime since I've been recording them here - it's a really sweet story, and I have used it for storytime, but it must have been a while back.  Matthew is on the spot for Show-and-Tell, but nothing interesting has happened, and he panics!  He invents a pet lion that lives at his house, and the story grows and grows over time, but he never quite gets up the courage to let his classmates in on the reality that it's really just a made-up lion.  With some help from his mom, and encouragement from his teacher, he figures out a way to "fess up" but still get to talk about his very interesting (imaginary) lion adventures.  It's a quick read, the emotions are explained and talked through (especially love the description accompanying the word "embarrassed") and Matthew isn't shamed or punished for his mistake.  Would also go well in a storytime about make-believe, or about telling the truth, or about differentiating reality from stories.


If I Were a Lion
Sarah Weeks, illustrated by Heather M. Solomon
ISBN: 0689848366
Watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations are then cut out and placed in collages to make very punchy graphics.  If Lois Ehlert and E. B. Lewis combined.

Super cute new discovery for my Lion theme.  A precocious red-haired feisty childling (most likely a girl due to pink shirt, but not specified) has been put into "time-out" for being WILD.  Well, that's just not true!  Wild lions and bears and wolves and raccoons do much worse things than this lovely child - they storm and break and growl and bite!  She's sweet and polite, don't you know.  Lots of great language and rhymes;  "absurd"  "ferocious" / "precocious"   "rummage."  Lovely cadence also - very easy to read, and not many words to a page to convey the story.  I'll be using this one again for sure.  Easy match for "wild animals,"  "bad kids," "making messes,"  "compare and contrast."


How to Hide a Lion
Helen Stephens
ISBN: 9780805098341
Reminds me of a slightly more colorful Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile in both illustration and storyline.

A lion has come into town for a new hat, but the frightened townspeople chase him off with pitchforks and torches.  He hides in a playhouse in the suburbs, owned by Iris, who isn't afraid of lions.  She keeps and hides him for a good while, until one night mom makes a startling discovery.  The plot progression then is a little abrupt, as the lion flees, impersonates a statue downtown, and foils a crime, bringing the adulation of the townsfolk at last - and perhaps a chance to finally get that hat!  For the amount of story involved, a very short read, and the pictures carry a lot of the story, with little broken-up paragraphs on many pages attached to smaller cameo pictures.  Very cute, but not a favorite like the other two.