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The mighty lion is king of the jungle--or bully of the jungle, depending on who's telling the story. He demands that the monkeys fan him with giant leaves, the leopards bring him food, and the elephants provide him shade. The animals can't stand him one bit.
One day, a smooth-talking city fellow is roaming through the jungle when the lion leaps on him and exclaims, "I am the king of this jungle! Now prepare to be eaten!" ("Rrrrroar!" he added.) As it turns out, the slick, plaid-jacketed man appreciates a good gut-splitting roar when he hears one. When he tells the lion that he can make him a big star, the self-important feline is only too pleased to come along with him. (And his harassed jungle companions are only too pleased to be rid of him.) But life in the big city is not all it's cracked it up to be. The lion finds himself in degrading circumstances, being forced to respond to a snapping whip in a circus ring. It's time to take matters into his own hands--or teeth, as the case may be.
This hilariously dry tale of comeuppance and redemption will become an immediate favorite with readers from jungle to city and everywhere in between. Dan Yaccarino's cool retro-style gouache paintings also enliven the pages of Circle Dogs, An Octopus Followed Me Home, and If I Had a Robot. (Ages 3 to 8) --Emilie Coulter
From Publishers Weekly
In perhaps his best-realized picture book yet, Yaccarino (Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm Off to the Moon) takes a tongue-in-cheek look at an arrogant king of beasts. This lion bullies his subjects, including frowning brown monkeys and irritated blue elephants. " 'I'm afraid I must eat you,' he explained, 'if you don't obey me....' The animals couldn't stand him one bit." One day, a city slicker arrives in the jungle and appeals to the lion's ego, promising to make him a big star if he leaves the jungle. The lion agrees, and Yaccarino cuts to an image of jubilant creatures, who are "more than happy to be rid of" their annoying boss. With their rounded bodies, rendered in curving strokes of gouache, the characters resemble plush toys, but their black-button eyes and single-line smiles express their moods. Rather than taking a Curious George or The Story of Babar approach, Yaccarino upends the traditional tale of captivity. The lion resents being put on a leash and forced to do circus tricks. Such humiliating treatment forces him to take extreme measures; having eaten his would-be tamer, he gallops home to apologize to his old companions. With short, sharp sentences and mild sarcasm, Yaccarino humorously twists the savage-versus-civilized formula. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-In this cautionary tale, a prideful lion meets a slick-talking man who promises to make him a star. Bored with terrorizing the other jungle animals, the king of beasts leaves his realm to entertain admiring circus crowds with his terrific roar. His dreams of fame are soon dashed, however, as the man forces his prot?g? to do undignified tricks and takes all of the glory for himself. Fed up, the lion swallows the lion tamer with one huge gulp and returns home, just in time to save the rest of the animals from an unhappy fate and earn their everlasting admiration. The tongue-in-cheek text mixes the moral-making mood of an Aesop's fable with the bantering tone and tantalizing lingo often associated with showbiz. The gouache paintings extend the humor of the narrative, depicting a plump lion with a terrific mane and a smug-looking lion tamer. White backgrounds and clean lines focus readers' attention on the action. A roaring good time.Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Yaccarino's lion rules the jungle with an iron paw. He has the kind of roaring pride and demanding arrogance that make his jungle mates ecstatic to see him tricked into accompanying a big game hunter to the circus to feed a taste for a wider audience. When the lion discovers that he has been duped, he swallows both his pride and the lion tamer, and travels back to the jungle, where he rescues his former underlings from another big game hunter--again by ingesting him. The lion's voracious appetite might be upsetting for very young children, but older ones will likely enjoy the twists and turns of the "trickster tricked" (twice) plot. The illustrations, rendered in gouache on watercolor paper, take the bite out of the tale, looking as bright and cartoony as kids' animal wallpaper. Connie Fletcher
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