Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date: September 30, 2014
A little boy is looking for Lion. Lion is looking for lunch. But things aren't quite what they seem.
Humorous and quick, this is one little boy's search for something that will definitely come as a surprise for the audience. I will admit that I had to read it twice in order to be sure I understood the twist, but perhaps that is the magic of these kinds of books. I know the kids will get it immediately.
This book has been on my radar for a while. Apparently a lot of people I know are friends with Miriam Busch so I have been seeing her name all over my Facebook feed for months. Secondly, one cannot mention this book without pointing out the black child featured within. My Twitter feed and #WeNeedDiverseBooks crowd is all over it and for good reason. Incidental diversity, where the character is diverse but this plays no part in the story is so rare in picture books. More often than not, publishers turn the characters into animals in an effort to include all, but in the end means excluding anyone different. The reasoning has been that parents buy these books and white parents won't buy a book where the character is of a different race. Unless it is historical fiction, then it's okay. To that I say balderdash. Never mind that white parents aren't the only people buying kid's books. I am happy to see this book and hope to see more like it as we move forward with the We Need Diverse Books initiatives. Because everyone deserves to see themselves in the books they read.
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