How to be a Lion

Leonard the Lion is always being told that he should roar to be heard, be wild, and eat ducks! Surely, lions don't write poetry, do they?

But Leonard has his own way of being what he is. He uses words without having to roar, he likes poetry, and his best friend is Marianne the Duck!

"There are so many ways that you can be you"

How to Be a Lion is a brilliant story of being yourself in your own, selected and special way. There's more than one way of being yourself, and you have the right to discover that yourself! A sweet, wonderful story about individuality, it will make you and your child love Leonard the Lion and his poetry!

Oh, this is adorable, I am in love with Leonard! I'm a fan of Ed Vere's books anyway, but this may be my new favourite. Leonard is a gentle poet-lion whose best friend is a duck. All is going swimmingly until a bunch of mean old fierce lions tell him that's no way for a lion to behave. There's only one way for a lion to be, and that's a duck-eating lion! Leonard and Marianne the duck are not deterred. They work on a poem together, concluding "...why don't you be you/and I be I?".

There's so much texture to this book - it's a limited palette of savannah oranges and black, but the shades and direction of brushstroke give every page such a lot of extra meaning. This is a wonderful book for little ones to hear and read, and can also be used for older children when talking about stereotyping, gender roles, and peer pressure. I will definitely be buying this for our library as soon as possible.

This is a more 'grown up' picture book than some of the books my five year old son is used to, but nevertheless he still enjoyed reading through it with me. The language at times is complex, so not really suitable for his beginner reading level, but it was a good introduction to the concept of poetry. It also has a strong moral, which my son picked up on himself, without any prompting from me.

This is a wonderful story, perfect for repeated reading. Utilising the lion and the ideas people have about them the story is crafted to ask questions about what it means to meet expectations.
It actually challenges one key element that I think is causing problems for teens today; the strive to be perfect and not make mistakes. It’s lovely to see the message that it’s okay to make mistakes, to not be perfect and no agree with everyone.

I cannot wait to read this to my nephew.

With a crunch and a chomp, this story of a poetry-loving lion will have you hooked as we learn that you don’t have to be what people expect you to be; it’s okay to just be yourself.

I can’t wait to see this book with the illustrations; I love Ed Vere’s work, especially Grumpy Frog, and I really want to see his story of Leonard come to life! However, just going on the text alone, this is a fantastic book that little ones will love. I can imagine that reading it aloud is great fun with all the rhymes!

I really enjoyed reading How To Be A Lion and am definitely going to be adding it to my collection of favourite picture books!