Lion Lullaby

by Kate Banks, Lauren Tobia (Illustrator)

Overview

Follow ten lion cubs as they make their way home through the savanna in a lulling, lyrical read-aloud that gently introduces counting to young ones.

Little lions everywhere listen to evening’s sounds.
The wind is crying.
Trees are sighing.
It’s time to run along home.

The sun begins to set on the savanna, and ten little lions must find their way home before dark. One by one, lion cubs emerge from trees, past bouncing monkeys and braying zebras. They cross a stream, watch a herd of thundering wildebeest, and explore the darkening beauty of the landscape. As the moon rises, ten little lion cubs curl up together just in time for bedtime, under their mothers’ watch in a space that is cozy and warm. Kate Banks’s gorgeously melodic text, paired with Lauren Tobia’s charming illustrations, create a lullaby to ensure the sweetest of dreams.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536209822
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	01/25/2022
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Kate Banks (1960-2024) was the award-winning author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including Lion Lullaby, illustrated by Lauren Tobia, Noah Builds an Ark, illustrated by John Rocco, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner And If the Moon Could Talk, illustrated by Georg Hallensleben.

Lauren Tobia is the author-illustrator of Oscar’s Tower of Flowers as well as the illustrator of several books for children, including the Anna Hibiscus books by Atinuke, Baby’s Got the Blues by Carol Diggory Shields, Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin, and Are You Sure, Mother Bear? by Amy Hest. Lauren Tobia lives in Bristol, England.

Editorial Reviews

The painterly, realistic illustrations create the feel of approaching night, transitioning gradually from golds, browns, and greens to dreamy mauves, violets, and grays. . . . Ideal bedtime read-aloud.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2021-09-15
Night approaches, and lion cubs head for home.

With the “moon ripe and round,” 10 little lions hear “evening’s sounds” and know it’s time to “run along home.” Along the way, one watches a monkey “bouncing a babe on its knee.” Two see a cobra wave its tail and hear zebras bray and a tree frog peep. Three little lions sprint across sand dunes, four inspect a honeybee nest, five splash across a stream, and six peek at elephants tramping along and wildebeests running. On their way home, seven are caught in the rain, and eight tired little lions stop to rest, stretch, and purr. Home at last, nine little lions are ready for bed, and finally all 10 listen to “evening’s lullaby,” snuggle up, and sleep “cuddled by night.” Relying on repetition and rhyme, the text generates a gentle, soporific cadence as the little lions progress homeward, distracted by evening sights and sounds along the way. The painterly, realistic illustrations create the feel of approaching night, transitioning gradually from golds, browns, and greens to dreamy mauves, violets, and grays. Opening with a scene of 10 fuzzy, engaging cubs together, the double-page spreads track their progress from different perspectives and in ascending numerical groups across a stream, over sand dunes, atop tree branches, and beneath leaves until all 10 reunite with their mother under the “moon’s wide eye.”

Ideal bedtime read-aloud. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews