Thursday, March 20, 2008

Andy and the Lion



Finished Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty. It won the Caldecott Honor Medal in 1939. This is a simple picture book, very little text with expressive, possibly hyperbolic, but charming illustrations. Andy goes to the library and takes out a book about lions. He reads it very intently. Meanwhile a lion escapes from the circus and ends up with a large thorn in his paw. Andy stumbles upon him on his way to school and helps him by removing the thorn, then they part ways. Later in the story, while at the circus, one of the lions breaks free and runs ferociously into the audience heading right for Andy. Then suddenly they recognize each other and have a happy reunion. This reminded me a bit of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, where Lyle is reunited with Mr Valenti his old Vaudeville partner. Also, something about the style of the drawings reminded me a little bit of Robert McCloskey's work.

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