Andy and the Lion (Picture Puffins) [ペーパーバック]

James Daugherty's drawings are absolutely wonderful! This book is a must just for this. My daughter and I (she is 6) go over each picture in detail and talk about them. Regarding the story, it's simple but imaginative. It is suited for a younger audience. One shouldn't forget that the subtitle is "The Power of Gratitude". It gets this message across.

Having lambasted, decimated, and torn to shreds James Daugherty's remarkably racist, "Daniel Boone", it seemed only fair that I read a book of his that did not hinge on either white supremacy or genocide. "Andy and the Lion" seemed a good guess and after I read it I found I didn't just tolerate it... I didn't just like it... Heck I LOVED this book. What a great story! What superb illustrations and well phrased narrative. What an excellent excellent picture book... one that all children should read and remember for as long as they have brains to do so. Mr. Daugherty has not just reinterpreted the tale, "Androclus and the Lion", he has put his mark on it and made it his very own.

One day a bright young barefooted lad named Andy decided to patronize his local lending library. Inside he got out a book on lions and proceeded to read it through his meals and well into the evening. After his grandfather told him some wild tales of hunting lions in the wild, Andy went to bed and dreamed of the large yellow beasts. Upon waking he clearly had lions on his mind, but he goes to school as per usual. On the way there he stumbles across an honest to goodness lion of his own and finds that the poor thing has a nasty thorn caught in its paw. After removing the offending article (the book, ever covering its bases, informs us that, "Andy always carried his pliers in the back pocket of his overalls") the lion is grateful and the two part ways. Not long thereafter, the circus comes to town. Andy goes to watch the fun but when a lion escapes from his high steel cage and makes for the boy, Andy thinks he's done for. Surprise! It turns out that the lion is the same one Andy helped. The two are joyfully reconciled, the people cheer, Andy gets his own parade, and in the end the two friends go back to the library to return the book.

First of all, I want to thank the author for clearing something up for me. In his dedication, Mr. Daugherty thanks the two lions that sit in front of the New York Public Library. Uneducated me, I didn't know they were named Lady Astor and Lord Lenox, respectively. Just goes to show the benefits of reading older picture books, I guess. Now this book's a pip, no question. I challenge you to locate a single youngster that won't be enthralled by either Andy's lackadaisical lifestyle or his numerous encounters with the king of the jungle. The story reads with an easygoing vernacular that's difficult to resist. Heck, the first line in the story is, "It was a bright day with just enough wind to float a flag". How can you not enjoy that? Daugherty has cleverly melded elements of this tale with the original fable on which it is based. What he doesn't care to say in the text, he shows in his delightful illustrations. For example, having read just the words of this tale, your average child reader might wonder how the lion met Andy in the first place. Daugherty has already covered his bases on that one. Earlier in the tale, as Andy reads of lions' lives in front of a fire, his father glances at a paper whose headline reads, "Lion Escapes Circus". The pictures in this tale are filled to the brim with action and movement as well. There's a great moment when the thorn stuck in the lion's paw comes free and both Andy and the feline are sent cartwheeling backwards, legs askew and manes tousled. Admittedly, there's not much in the way of color in this tale. But heck, there's not much in the way of color in "Make Way for Ducklings" either. I hardly think it hurts the book a jot.

This being the author that introduced the world to one of the most outrageously racist Newbery award winners, and being that the publication date on this puppy is 1938 (not the best year for tolerance), you might be wondering if there are any notable racial stereotypes marring an otherwise favorable text. Well, ladies and gents, I in this entire tale there is only a single picture of someone of color. In the scene where Andy protects the escaped lion from the now angry townspeople there's a brief image of a black fellow jogging away from the lion. It's innocuous and hardly worth a mumble of outrage. Obviously it would have been nice if this story had included one or two positive minority figures, but you take what you can get sometimes.

So I've been won over to a James Daugherty book, in the end. Weaving a tight and lovable story of a boy, his dog, and his lion, I wish I could say that "Andy and the Lion" is well known today. It's not, and more's the pity. This is just a fabulous tale that deserves loving attention by scads of bright intelligent people. As it is, I insist that you go out and locate a copy for yourself immediately if not sooner. You won't regret it.. and even if you do you'll have to tip your hat a little to its good spirited whimsy.

With simple text and large illustrations, James Daugherty tells about Andy, a farm boy who loves to read (especially about lions!). On the way to school one day, Andy meets a real lion who just happens to have a thorn in his paw. Clever Andy takes the thorn out with his handy pliers and makes a friend of the lion. Weeks later when the circus comes to town, a wild lion escapes from the ring. All the people in the audience run for their lives but, of course, it's Andy's own lion friend, and Andy saves the day.

This charming tale is delightful in its fantasy; most 6-9 year olds never quite understand that the lion is in Andy's imagination. The yellow and black illustrations are dated, but they are funny. The book is a winner because of its sweet message of friendship. Who wouldn't want to have a real lion for a friend? Kids 6-8 love this book!