Clementine and the Lion

Having grown frustrated with her parents’ rules and expectations, Clementine seizes the opportunity to live on her own terms when her mother is kidnapped by dragons and her father becomes lost at sea in a bottle.

A matter-of-fact voice tells the fantastical tale of how Clementine becomes the sole resident in her home. After her parents’ disappearance, Clementine’s Aunt Mildred comes to stay. Maddeningly, Aunt Mildred is just as vexing as Clementine’s parents. Given no choice, Clementine creates an invisibility paint and covers her house in it. To get supplies, she dresses as a grown-up and sneaks to the store. One day, she accidentally leaves the front door open and a lion takes up residence. Clementine is terrified and hides while the lion makes a mess of the house. She overcomes her fear, however, when the lion takes her beloved Blue Bear as his own. This leads to a truce, and soon the two have negotiated how they will live together. Eventually, Clementine decides to remove the invisibility paint so that her parents can find their way back home.

The tale is, without a doubt, imaginative and will appeal to readers who fantasize about living on their own. Readers will be pleased by Clementine’s success at living independently and impersonating an adult so convincingly. The underlying messages about advocating for yourself and negotiating with others will fly over most young readers’ heads, however. Repeated reads and adult-led discussions will facilitate this understanding. The reader is only given two examples of how Clementine’s parents are “ogres” which makes it difficult to ascertain whether they are truly monsters or whether Clementine simply chafes at their rules. The comment by one of the parents (“Unruly hair, unruly mind”) might indicate to some readers that her parents are truly unreasonable.

The pencil and gouache artwork is generally emotive although some facial expressions are difficult to interpret. The style can be described as stylishly quirky. The illustrations range from full-bleed spreads to a variety of vignettes on a single page. The layout is done well with the full-spread illustrations forcing the reader to slow down and the vignettes moving the story forward. The text is well-placed and in a clear font. The illustrations feature details that attentive readers will enjoy noticing. The illustrations also expand upon and round out the story, going beyond the text provided. All human characters are depicted as white and have slim builds. No visible disabilities or physical differences are noticeable.

Clementine and the Lion is a whimsical story that will appeal to independently-minded children, with an underlying message that will likely go unnoticed.