Sun Flower Lion

by Kevin Henkes, Kevin Henkes (Illustrator)

Overview

“As brilliant as can be.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A simple but thought-provoking story.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Endearing.”—Horn Book (starred review)

“A must-have for all collections.”—School Library Journal (starred review)

A sun. A flower. And a lion. With three visual motifs, three colors, and fewer than 200 words,, renowned Caldecott Medal winner and #1 New York Times-bestseller  Kevin Henkes cracks open the wide world and the youngest child’s endless imagination. This irresistible picture book is a must-have for every reader and every family.

On a warm morning, a little lion sleeps under a sun that shines so brightly, it looks like a flower. He dreams the flower is as big as the sun. He dreams the flower is a cookie. He lets his imagination soar.

Caldecott Medal winner Kevin Henkes  uses simple shapes, limited colors, and a pitch-perfect text to tell Lion’s story in this transcendent picture book. Sun Flower Lion introduces emerging readers to short chapters, action verbs, and adjectives, while bright illustrations transform simple shapes into something magical. 

Sun Flower Lion will shine at story time and bedtime and for young children just learning how to read on their own. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062866103
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	642,064
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Hometown:

Madison, Wisconsin

Date of Birth:

November 27, 1960

Place of Birth:

Racine, Wisconsin

Education:

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Website:

http://www.kevinhenkes.com

Editorial Reviews

06/29/2020

Simple words and repeating forms draw beginning readers into this iterative volume by Henkes (Summer Song). Its central visual element, a circle with a ruffled edge, could signify the sun, a flower, or a lion with a mane—and here, it’s all three. Divided into six short chapters, the story’s sentences relate the three objects to each other. First, readers meet the sun: “The sun is in the sky./ It is shining./ It is as bright as a flower.” In chapter two, a ruffled circle appears with a stem and leaves; it’s a bloom that “looks like a little lion.” In chapter three, the motif forms the head of a stumpy feline (“He smells the flower./ He warms himself in the sun”) who dreams, wakes, and runs home. Readers see the hill, but not the traveling lion (“Can you see him?/ No, you can’t./ He is running too fast”). Yellow spreads convey warmth and light, while gray, hand-inked blades of grass cover the hill. Signlike artwork and straightforward text fit together as neatly as building blocks in this lighthearted reading exercise. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A sun, a flower, and a lion. . . . Henkes creates an impeccably designed story that’s rewarding for toddlers and early readers alike. . . . With imagination at its center, this participatory read-aloud also cleverly introduces the concept of simile and metaphor. . . . As brilliant as can be.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Masterfully employing brush and ink, with a striking color palette . . . Henkes creates a simple but thought-provoking story. Using panel illustrations, the book is divided into chapters, setting the pace of the narrative and helping the reader understand comparisons between items. . . . A perfect book for storytime reading or family bedtime sharing.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Meet the sun . . . a flower that looks like a lion; and a lion, who sees the flower and dreams about a field of them. . . . A perfectly paced picture book . . . An endearing, seemingly simple story with a wide-eyed and memorable protagonist, whose adventures will delight preschoolers and support and encourage those taking first steps toward reading.” — Horn Book (starred review)

“A white circle with a scalloped yellow border—is it the sun? A flower? A lion? It’s all three. . . . A great pick for beginning readers. . . . With a return to a . . . limited color palette like that of Henkes’s award-winning Kitten’s First Full Moon, this is a must-have for all collections.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“Simple words and repeating forms draw beginning readers into this iterative volume by Henkes. Its central visual element, a circle with a ruffled edge, could signify the sun, a flower, or a lion with a mane—and here, it’s all three. . . . Yellow spreads convey warmth and light . . . in this lighthearted reading exercise.” — Publishers Weekly

“As demonstrated in A Parade of Elephants, Henkes is a master in rendering the simple fascinating . . . A story that’s warm and . . . gently humorous. . . . Two-color art, in shades of black and yellow, centers on the ruffled yellow circle that is variously sun, flower, and face of lion. . . . Perfect as a title to delight pre-readers and offer satisfying read-along opportunities.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Highly acclaimed author and illustrator Kevin Henkes captures simple beauties of nature in his new picture book Sun Flower Lion. . . . This short, concise chapter book . . .  is easy to comprehend and features common things of interest to children ages four to seven, making it a perfect addition for homes and classrooms of preschool and early elementary school-aged students.” — Portland Book Review

“There’s something new under the sun: Sun Flower Lion is a fresh spin on the traditional cumulative tale. . . . Imagination, not action, fuels the narrative. . . . [Henkes] spur[s] toddlers to look for similarities among images. The book concludes with a cozy, applause-worthy curtain call.” — Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

Meet the sun . . . a flower that looks like a lion; and a lion, who sees the flower and dreams about a field of them. . . . A perfectly paced picture book . . . An endearing, seemingly simple story with a wide-eyed and memorable protagonist, whose adventures will delight preschoolers and support and encourage those taking first steps toward reading.

Horn Book (starred review)

As demonstrated in A Parade of Elephants, Henkes is a master in rendering the simple fascinating . . . A story that’s warm and . . . gently humorous. . . . Two-color art, in shades of black and yellow, centers on the ruffled yellow circle that is variously sun, flower, and face of lion. . . . Perfect as a title to delight pre-readers and offer satisfying read-along opportunities.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Masterfully employing brush and ink, with a striking color palette . . . Henkes creates a simple but thought-provoking story. Using panel illustrations, the book is divided into chapters, setting the pace of the narrative and helping the reader understand comparisons between items. . . . A perfect book for storytime reading or family bedtime sharing.

Booklist (starred review)

As demonstrated in A Parade of Elephants, Henkes is a master in rendering the simple fascinating . . . A story that’s warm and . . . gently humorous. . . . Two-color art, in shades of black and yellow, centers on the ruffled yellow circle that is variously sun, flower, and face of lion. . . . Perfect as a title to delight pre-readers and offer satisfying read-along opportunities.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

08/14/2020

PreS-K—A white circle with a scalloped yellow border—is it the sun? A flower? A lion? It's all three. Across six two-page chapters, readers are asked if they can see the Sun, Flower, and Lion—first by themselves and then added to a scene with one another: the flower looks like a little lion, the lion smells the flower, and warms himself in the sun. Chapter 4 deviates from pattern, entering a dream sequence (with the panels taking on scalloped edges reminiscent of the title items). In Chapter 5 the story returns to form, with a subversion; when readers are asked if they can see the lion, they cannot because "He is running too fast." Chapter 6 sees the contented lion sleeping at home with his family, and the text returns to the repetition of "Can you see him? Yes, you can." Skillful interconnections between the distinctive illustrations and the brief text make this title a great pick for beginning readers. A limited three-color palette and thick black outlines evoke the simplicity and two-dimensional quality of a child's drawing. The humor relies on playfulness among similar illustrations, while the deliberate use of few colors allow readers to recognize the repetition of the title shapes throughout, down to the final spread where the flower and sun peek into the corners of the scene of the little lion dozing with his family. VERDICT With a return to a distinct and limited color palette like that of Henkes's award-winning Kitten's First Full Moon, this is a must have for all collections, appropriate for both sharing out loud and for beginning readers.—Amanda Foulk, Sacramento P.L.

School Library Journal

★ 2020-06-03
A sun, a flower, and a lion. They look similar, no?

Introduced in a wordless panel before the title page, the three figures bear at least two shapes in common. They’re also the same combination of warm yellow and (somehow just as warm) white, outlined in thick black line that pops against the muted yellow background. The text, divided into six short chapters, goes on to introduce the figures in isolation: “This is the sun. / Can you see it?” the narrator asks before going on to proclaim that the sun “is as bright as a flower.” When the flower is introduced, it’s compared to a lion. The lion? He isn’t compared to anything but instead smells the flower and warms himself in the sun. In the next chapter, the lion dreams that the flowers are sun-sized cookies. He wakes up hungry and runs home as fast as he can. Can readers spot him on the page? Using a vocabulary of fewer than 60 words and their variants—and a visual vocabulary of even fewer shapes and colors—Henkes creates an impeccably designed story that’s rewarding for toddlers and early readers alike. The repetitive structure and tone call to mind the playful simplicity of Mem Fox and Judy Horacek’s Where Is the Green Sheep? (2004). With imagination at its center, this participatory read-aloud also cleverly introduces the concept of simile (“It looks like a lion”) and metaphor (“The flowers are cookies”).

As brilliant as can be. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

Highly acclaimed author and illustrator Kevin Henkes captures simple beauties of nature in his new picture book Sun Flower Lion. . . . This short, concise chapter book . . .  is easy to comprehend and features common things of interest to children ages four to seven, making it a perfect addition for homes and classrooms of preschool and early elementary school-aged students.

Portland Book Review

There’s something new under the sun: Sun Flower Lion is a fresh spin on the traditional cumulative tale. . . . Imagination, not action, fuels the narrative. . . . [Henkes] spur[s] toddlers to look for similarities among images. The book concludes with a cozy, applause-worthy curtain call.

Shelf Awareness