ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PRESCHOOL
Kramer, Kara

Tell Me a Lion Story

40 pp. | Candlewick | May, 2022 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5362-1801-5 $17.99
(2) PS "Dad...? Tell me a story!" Part parent-child bonding tale, part collaborative storytelling exercise, part interactive Mad Libs–esque game, this picture book stars an enthusiastic, if particular, story-loving child and a flexibly imaginative father. When Dad begins with "Once upon a time," the child calls him out on it; that's been done. Instead, the kid wants "a NEW story," and one starring a lion. The father gamely starts again, but he doesn't get far. First his big cat is too big ("'His foot is bigger than this couch.' 'The lion doesn't have to be sooo big'"), then too small, then its name (Fred) is deemed unworthy. Dad's solution is for them to make up the story together, at which point Kramer incorporates fill-in-the-blank lines into the cleverly designed pages: "Right now, at this exact moment in time, there is a not-so-big, not-so-little lion named [blank]." Details of the creature's subsequent adventures are determined by readers, with imagery in the sunny-hued, mixed-media illustrations depicting an outer-space voyage, but with room for narrative variety. On the last page, father, child, and a now-PJ-clad lion crowd onto the couch, with the promise of more tales to come--or slightly different versions of this one.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

RELATED 

PRESCHOOL

The Farmer and the Circus
by Frazee, Marla
PRESCHOOL

Bird House
by Gómez, Blanca
PRESCHOOL

The Crow and the Peacock
by Fernihough, Jo
PRESCHOOL

Something's Wrong!
by John, Jory
PRESCHOOL

Grandpa Across the Ocean
by Yum, Hyewon
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?