The Little Lion That Listened

by | Jul 25, 2022 | Book Review, Fiction, Picture Book

The Little Lion that Listened (cover)

Book Details

The Little Lion That Listened
Nicholas D Tana, illus. Jessie Fox, layout design: Matthew Molleur. New Classics Books, hb, 978 1 9500 3315 7, 2021, £17.99, 32pp.
Fiction, picture book, 3-8 years

This inspirational book for young children centres around a wonderful character, Leo, the little lion, and his family.

Leo loves to listen and is very good at it, he doesn’t however, want to roar. But he is a lion and everyone else in his family roar and they roar loud and they roar long. His Dad is concerned about Leo’s reticence to roar but his Mum knows that Leo will find his own voice when he is ready – which of course he does.

The author dedicates this beautiful, life-affirming book to his non-verbal daughter who suffers from a rare genetic disorder. He has created a book which really has the power to help and empower and teach us that it is ok to do things in our own way and in our own time whatever that may be whilst still able to tell a story that is fully engaging and accessible to all. 

The illustrations are bright and modern with an animated film feel about them. There is something quite magical in the way that Leo is illustrated in that the reader feels drawn to him and can see the emotion in his beautiful, brown eyes.

This book has a wonderful message and it needs to be on every bookshelf. The publishers of this book are called New Classics Books and I really do feel that this has all the elements to become a classic picture book of the future.

 

Review by SDA