Lion Lessons

It’s not easy getting your lion diploma. There are seven steps: looking fierce, roaring, choosing what to eat (muskrat, gnu, iguana and antelope are on the menu: spaghetti definitely isn’t), prowling around, sprinting, pouncing and looking out for your friends. The little boy who ventures into the Lion Lessons shop on the high street certainly finds it difficult to make his instructor happy – that is, until a neighbourhood cat is in danger…

Jon Agee’s picture book is delightfully simple and masterfully brilliant, just like his previous title The Wall in the Middle of the Book. In Lion Lessons, Agee’s illustration is reminiscent of Maurice Sendak in the depiction of the boy’s journey into his own wildness  - and knowing that, while it’s most of the time not necessary to roar, sometimes we can still be fierce in protecting others who are less roar-some than ourselves.

Perfect for fans of Ed Vere’s How To Be A Lion.