Shaarav loves animal picture books and my little guy is one pretend animal or the other most of the time. It’s quite OK for us to often hear a roar, trumpet or moo around the house. So, with lion and mouse as the main characters of the story, “The Lion Inside” makes for a great addition to our home library. “The Lion Inside” tells a wonderful tale of bravery, confidence and friendship. Again, it looks like we have a new favourite author. With a narrative so rhythmically flowing and pictures so brilliantly detailed and vibrant this is a book that keeps on giving.

The Lion Inside

What’s the story?

“The Lion Inside” is a story about the journey of a meek and timid mouse who grows tired of being so little and forgotten his entire life and sets off to find his roar. The humble little mouse who gets walked all over gets fed up of his miserable life and wants to be heard and listened to just like the boastful and pompous lion who is heard and appreciated by everyone in the animal community. The mouse thinks its the roar which makes the lion so celebrated among all the other animals and decides to add a roar to his repertoire. So, he musters up all his courage and confidence and determined to learn how to roar from the very best, he risks being eaten and goes to confront the lion. But what he discovers on meeting the lion is really sublime and awe-inspiring. The mouse discovers that even the tiniest of us has the heart of a lion within only waiting to be discovered. Ultimately, the mouse finds a friend in the remotest possible place he could ever think.

What did we like about it?

“The Lion Inside” is a perfect book to introduce to kids who lack confidence or courage. It offers a multi-layer of wonderful and important lessons for a child to imbibe. The easy rhythmic flow of the rhyming story with compelling and characterful illustrations are a delight for children and adults alike. The book has a storyline that is easy to follow for children at the same time adding new words to their vocabulary. We like how each story by Rachel Bright is set in a different landscape. While “The Koala Who Could” was set in the Australian outback, “The Lion Inside” is laid out in the African Serengeti. It gives an opportunity to discuss about and learn about different regions and the animals belonging to those places with children.

Book Details

Written by: Rachel Bright

Illustrated by: Jim Field

Published by: Orchard Books

Genre: Fiction Picture Book

Book Type: Board Book

Recommended Age: 3 to 5

Number of pages: 30

Ratings: 10/10

What’s there for the child to learn?

The story of “The Lion Inside” has been set in a typical African Serengeti with animals which are typical to African savanna such as giraffe, elephant, zebra and wildebeest. So, the child can learn about the animals that belong to and are typical of Africa. The story entails multi layers of emphatically powerful lessons of bravery, courage, friendship and embracing who you are simultaneously making room for improvement in a fun way for little kids to imbibe. Children who are starting school are bound to come across many new situations and experiences which can be challenging for some. This spectacular story about being true to yourself and yet making room for improvements by taking chances and learning new things can not only get you new friends but also bring you closer to yourself. With a humourous touch to convey so many powerful messages subtly we definitely have a big winner and a fast becoming favourite here.

As part of the bookish play we decided to have a storytelling session (read aloud) and do some book related activities. For the book related activities, we talked and learned about different animals from the African Serengeti. It was a total blast and we really enjoyed ourselves.

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z challenge. Keep watching the space for our book recommendation for the alphabet M next and in case you missed our theme reveal for this year’s BlogchatterA2Z challenge you can check it out here. You could also check our book review with alphabet K for another great review and book related activities.

Love,

Mrs. Sunshine

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