When Your Lion Needs a Bath is so much fun. It easily incites happy giggles among little ones but also has adults quickly realizing the uncanny similarities between bathing lions and reluctant children.
You read along as a young boy follows advice from a disembodied voice/the reader that the lion consistently defies. The adviser keeps assuming that because a lion is in the cat family that certain rules which are true for cats must be true for lions. This young child is cooperative, persistent, and keeps himself together as he tries, fails, and tries again to get his very dirty lion into the bath. The readers are enthralled with the prospect of having to be sneaky to get the lion into the bath and whole-heartedly root for the little boy.
The use of second person and direct questions quickly draws in the readers and makes them feel like they are a part of the situation. The ordered instruction about what to do first, second, etc. gives the story a satisfying structure. The use of questions throughout the book immediately has my kids throwing out answers as fast as they can.
From When Your Lion Needs a Bath by Susanna Leonard Hill and Illustrated by Daniel Wiseman. Image Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
This book shows challenges, failures, successes, and then the overwhelming but inevitable truth that you’re just going to have to do it all over again with humor and style.
The illustrations are endearing with bold lines, bright colors, friendly characters, and clear, clean use of space. It makes it easy to follow along with the story for the little ones and beautifully adds another layer of humor. The style perfectly sets the mood and you immediately know that this book is going to be fun. The facial expressions on the lion make this book worth reading alone.
It is so much fun to read this book with my three and seven-year-old boys. They have a fantastic time and giggle like crazy through the whole book every time we read it. The pacing and sparse text is kind to tired parents and is an easy and fun book to say yes to for when the kids want just one more story. You can happily pair it with the other books in this series: When Your Elephant Has the Sniffles out now, and coming January 2018 When Your Llama Needs a Haircut.
This book and When Your Elephant Has the Sniffles are both nominated for a Cybils Award in the Board Books Category. Have you nominated a book yet? You have until October 15th, 2017. I hope you will! Click here to learn more.
Where to Get it:
- [Affiliate Link]: Amazon.com
- [My Favorite Bookstore]: Addendum Books
- [Library]: Worldcat.org
Author/Artist Websites:
- Author: Susanna Leonard Hill
- Artist: Daniel Wiseman
More Reviews:
Where Obtained: I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are Amazon affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase something, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Which goes to fund my family’s picture book habit. It’s a vicious cycle, but we manage. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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