The ASPCA Award-winning creators of And Tango Makes Three present the true story of a domesticated lion cub whose devoted owners return him to the wilds of Kenya. 35,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)When Ace and John find a lion cub for sale at Harrods department store, they buy him, name him Christian, and the three live happily for a year in a London apartment, but eventually Christian grows too big and they must let him go to live the life of a wild cat. - (Baker & Taylor)
When John and Ace found a lion cub for sale at Harrods, they knew that a department store was no place for a lion. They took him home, named him Christian, raised him and loved him--and in the process, Christian became a London celebrity. But when Christian got too big for their apartment, Ace and John knew that it was time to let him go back to Africa, where he belonged. When they went to visit him in Africa, they were in for a wonderful surprise. Christian remembered them!
This heartwarming book is based on the true story of two men who raised and loved a lion cub--which millions of fans know through the popular YouTube video. - (Simon and Schuster)
Justin Richardson, MD, is the coauthor, with Peter Parnell, of the award-winning picture book And Tango Makes Three. Dr. Richardson is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia and Cornell and the coauthor of Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask). Dr. Richardson and his advice have been featured in The New York Times and The Washington Post, on the Today show and NPR’s Morning Edition, and in numerous magazines. Dr. Richardson lectures to parents and teachers on parenting and the sexual development of children.
Peter Parnell is the coauthor, with Justin Richardson, of And Tango Makes Three. He is a playwright whose plays have been produced at the Public Theater and Playwrights Horizons in New York City, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and the Seattle Repertory Company, among others. His play QED was produced on Broadway. He has written extensively for television as a producer for both The West Wing and The Guardian; he has also written episodes of Maurice Sendak’s series Little Bear. He lives in New York City.
Amy June Bates has illustrated books including the Sam the Man series; Sweet Dreams and That’s What I’d Do, both by singer-songwriter Jewel; and Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan. She is the author-illustrator of The Big Umbrella, about which Booklist raved, “A boundlessly inclusive spirit...This open-ended picture book creates a natural springboard for discussion.” She lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with her husband and three children. - (Simon and Schuster)
Horn Book Guide Reviews
After their pet lion outgrows their London apartment, his owners send him to Kenya; incredibly, he remembers them when they later visit. Based on actual events (a 1970s video of the reunion became an Internet sensation in 2008), the sweet story is conspicuously padded for the picture-book format. Sandy-hued watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations capture the era's bell-bottomed glory. Copyright 2010 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
Library Media Connection
You can buy anything from England?s Harrods? Department Store as Ace and John discovered when they bought Christian, the lion cub. The humans and lion bonded; they took him for walks, took him out to eat, and showed him the sights of London. He hugged everyone he met and enjoyed being part of an unusual family. Amy June Bates uses watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations to show how Christian grows. When he outgrows the apartment, Ace and John decide to take him to Africa and find a place where Christian can have room to roam and roar. Toward the end of the book, the story doesn?t need any words. Bates captures the friendship and love between Christian, Ace, and John when they go to visit him years later. Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell write this story like a fairy tale?whimsical and entertaining. In the author?s note at the end of the book, they share the true story of Christian, thus allowing the reader to compare fiction and factual information. Christian?s story is also on the Internet. Recommended. Deborah Cavitt, Educational Consultant, Duncanville, Texas ¬ 2010 Linworth Publishing, Inc.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Richardson and Parnell, the writing team behind And Tango Makes Three, turn to another heartwarming real-life animal story in this retelling, the second picture book to star Christian, following 2009's Christian the Lion. In subtly evocative prose, the authors emphasize storytelling as they hit the major plot points of the now familiar story: Ace and John's discovery of the lion cub in a cage at Harrods, Christian's adventures and growing pains in London ("Christian became a very well-behaved little cub. Most of the time"), the eventual delivery of the lion to Kenya, and the trio's climactic reunion when Ace and John return to find Christian grown-up and with cubs of his own. With a dramatic leap, Christian rejoins his friends in a jubilant embrace that fills an entire wordless spread. Playing off the understated text to humorous effect, Bates (Hillary Rodham Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight) contributes balmy watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations that highlight Christian's playfulness, as he sprawls out on Ace and John's sofa or gives "clumsy" hugs at the pub. It's a tender and particularly kid-friendly version of Christian's story. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)
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School Library Journal Reviews
K-Gr 3—When Ace and John find a lion cub for sale at a famous English department store, they buy him, take him back to their apartment, and name him Christian. The young men take him for walks, play with him in a churchyard, and go on beach picnics with him. When Christian grows too large for their apartment, his owners fly him to Kenya where Mr. Adamson will teach him—as he has taught other lions—to live in the wild. They learn that Christian has cubs of his own and fly to Kenya to see him one more time. In a series of near-wordless illustrations that capture the joy of the real-life reunion video that appeared on the Internet in 2008, the friends meet again. They spend the night together "cozy and snug and, of course, hugging." An authors' note explains that all events are true, fills in more details, and mentions the now-famous video. Illustrations are done in watercolor, gouache, and pencil. Young readers may want to see actual photographs of the three friends in Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall'sChristian the Lion (Delacorte, 2009). This book will be a popular choice among the many youngsters who have bonded with their own pets.—Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN
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