Counting Lions: Portraits from the Wild

by Katie Cotton, Stephen Walton (Illustrator)

Overview

A spectacular, visually stunning celebration of wildlife—and gentle counting book—that can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Exquisite charcoal drawings of ten endangered creatures—lions, elephants, giraffes, pandas, tigers, chimpanzees, penguins, turtles, macaws, and zebras—startle the viewer with their size and astonishing detail. A poetic text notes each creature’s particular qualities and behavior, while providing a quiet counting exercise and a reminder that these animals must be cherished and protected.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763682071
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/13/2015
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.46(w) x 13.68(h) x 0.58(d)
Age Range:	4 - 10 Years

About the Author

Katie Cotton studied English at Oxford University and worked in education before becoming a writer and editor of children's picture books. She lives in London.

Stephen Walton is a self-taught, award-winning artist who works at Bury Art Museum in Manchester, U.K. He lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/10/2015
Arresting charcoal portraits of endangered animals, drawn in near-photographic detail, command attention in this counting book, which begins with “one lion” and ends with “ten zebras.” The large-scale b&w images are set against white backgrounds and paired with poems printed in a bright orange suggestive of the threats the animals face. Cotton’s pensive, unrhymed works describe the animals’ behaviors, physical attributes, and beauty: “Five elephants travel the dusty paths of memory./ From the day of their birth, the babies walk./ They walk into adulthood and beyond,/ following the paths set by their mothers before them.” Several poems also touch on the diminishing numbers of the species: “Does she know they are too few?/ What future is there for/ these four fighters?/ Four tigers.” Endnotes offering information about the animals and their endangered statuses conclude this powerful tribute to vulnerable creatures. All ages. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Arresting charcoal portraits of endangered animals, drawn in near-photographic detail, command attention in this counting book...Endnotes offering information about the animals and their endangered statuses conclude this powerful tribute to vulnerable creatures.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Walton’s photo-realistic charcoal portraits are exquisitely rendered, and the decision to depict several from a head-on perspective ensures that readers will make direct eye contact and empathize with these creatures...this handsome offering makes an excellent introduction to this topic.
—Booklist

A large part of its allure relies on its large size and the conscientious design of the pages...It's beautifully executed.
—Kirkus Reviews

A stunning portrait of beautiful creatures in a book with a strong environmental message.
—School Library Journal

A profound and transfixing look at the endangered animal residents of our world.
—USA Today

From the Publisher

10/01/2015
K-Gr 2—This oversize counting book features 10 endangered animals drawn beautifully in charcoal. The images of lions, tigers, elephants, penguins, and more are so detailed that they appear on first look to be black-and-white photos. Each spread presents an animal, such as a single male lion, two gorillas, three giraffes, etc. Soft, moody text printed in orange accompanies the images. "One lion sits and watches his rough-and-tumble pride. He surveys the golden savanna, and a flicker catches his eye—something moving in the grass." "Four tigers rest in dappled shade. The mother raises her magnificent head. She is a warrior of the forest, heavily muscled, a flash of fire and night that brings oblivion to her prey." The end pages expand upon the status of the animals, from the endangered to those less threatened. Their general habitat is noted along with information regarding the number of the species now left. VERDICT A stunning portrait of beautiful creatures in a book with a strong environmental message.—Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

2015-07-15
This oversized book consists of 10 double-page spreads counting up from one lion to 10 zebras. The photorealistic drawings are breathtakingly beautiful, deserving of their large space. The text, all printed in orange ink, consists of the numbers spelled out and short, poetic passages describing each species, and it is nicely set as free-verse lines rather than less attractive paragraphs. For example: "Three giraffes / with their heads in the sky / pluck leaves from trees and chew, / up and down, side to side, / for up to twenty hours a day. / They are peaceful patterned giants / wandering from place to place, / sleepless surveyors of the grasslands. / Three wanderers. / Three giraffes." The foreword by Virginia McKenna contains a sobering reminder of the reality of vanishing species, and backmatter gives further information, including protection status, without defining the terms. (Is it best to be "vulnerable" or "endangered" or "near threatened"?) Pitching the book to an all-ages audience is a bit disingenuous, as the book lacks numerals and thick stock for the youngest viewers, and the text is soundly in the realm of middle-graders. A large part of its allure relies on its large size and the conscientious design of the pages. It's beautifully executed, but it will be a devil to shelve, and it's hard to see many families adopting it for the coffee table. (Informational picture book. 4-10)

Kirkus Reviews