Library Lion
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Bending the rules
REVIEW BY LYNN BECKWITH Miss Merriweather is a stickler for rules in her library: No running. Be quiet. When a lion takes up residence in the library, no one can think of any rule he is breaking, so Miss Merriweather allows the lion to stay. Soon, the lion finds ways of making himself helpful—dusting the encyclopedias with his impressive tail, licking the overdue notice envelopes and allowing small children to stand on his back to reach high shelves. The parents and children love the lion, but Mr. McBee, another librarian, does not see what all the fuss is about. "Lions . . . could not understand rules. They did not belong in the library." When an accident makes the lion break one of the rules, he knows he is not welcome back. Author Michelle Knudsen and artist Kevin Hawkes teamed up to create Library Lion, a delightful picture book about rule breaking and friendship that is sure to please readers and librarians everywhere. The story is amusing and captivating, and the illustrations hearken back to Maurice Sendak's classic artwork for A Hole Is to Dig and the many charmers by Eric Blegvad. Soft acrylic and pencil drawings capture the stuffiness of Mr. McBee, the children's glee at having a lion friend and the great sadness of everyone and everything—even the potted plant—when the lion suddenly stops coming to the library. And when Mr. McBee finally finds the lion, soaking wet and looking longingly into the glass doors of the library, anyone can see the sorrow on the faces of both feline and human. Graceful details add to the retro feel of this utterly delightful book. Curl up at your favorite library with this winner of a tale!
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