Caring for Your Lion

by Tammi Sauer, Troy Cummings (Illustrator)

Overview

What happens when you expect an itty-bitty kitty . . . but get a lion instead?
It’s kitten delivery day, but—SURPRISE. Congratulations on your new LION! We know you ordered a kitten, but we ran out of those. Fortunately, the big cat comes with instructions—like, try very hard NOT to look like a zebra. Or a gazelle. And give your lion PLENTY of space to play. But soon the feathers and fur start flying and everything’s in chaos. Is there any way a lion could actually be a child’s purr-fect pet?  
 

Customer Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454916093
Publisher:	Sterling Children's Books
Publication date:	05/02/2017
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	93,692
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Tammi Sauer is the author of Sterling Publishing’s Chicken Dance, Bawk and Roll, Cowboy Camp, Mary Had a Little Glam, Your Alien Returns, and Your Alien, which has earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. She is an active blogger (tammisauer.com) and highly involved in the children's writer community, in addition to being a great promoter of her own books. Tammi has worked as a teacher and library media specialist and now lives in OK with her husband and their two children. Her local indie bookstore, Best of Books, in Edmond, OK, has named July 9 Tammi Sauer Day. Follow her on Twitter at @SauerTammi.
 
Troy Cummings runs his own design studio, and his clients have included Time for Kids, New York Daily News, Pearson/Scott Foresman, Random House, and the Cartoon Network. He has written and/or illustrated several children's books, including The Notebook of Doom series (Scholastic), Giddy-Up, Daddy! (Random House), and The Twelve Days of Christmas in Indiana (Sterling). Troy lives in Greencastle, IN, with his wife and their children. Visit him online at troyCummings.net.

Editorial Reviews

03/27/2017
It’s a common enough problem: ask for a kitten, receive a lion instead. Luckily, Sauer (Mary Had a Little Glam) has readers covered in this step-by-step guide to a singular pet, which adopts the dry tone of an owner’s manual. Countering that deadpan writing is Cummings’s (Little Red Gliding Hood) boisterous artwork, a mix of schematic-style diagrams and vividly exaggerated cartons starring a boy and the enormous yellow lion that arrives in a crate. “Try very hard not to look like a zebra. Or a gazelle. Or a bunny,” advises Sauer in step three; Cummings shows the boy frantically covering up his rabbit T-shirt. If one does accidentally get eaten, worry not—a simple, tickle-inducing feather is all that’s needed to remedy the situation, a process depicted in a series of Ikea-esque labeled diagrams. Humorous details are everywhere, from the stack of pizzas delivered to satiate the lion (toppings include rhino and antelope) to the lion’s house-cat-like tendency to sleep in sunbeams and on top of the fridge. Ages 3–up. Author’s agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Ronnie Ann Herman, Herman Agency. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Sauer's terse text, presented as the steps in the care manual for the lion, are tongue-in-cheek smile-inducing, as are accompanying black-and-white diagrams from the manual. However, their interaction with Cummings' full-color, digitally created illustrations of a light-brown-skinned child and the full-grown male lion that was delivered instead of a kitten are laugh-out-loud fun. Allow plenty of time to giggle over the details.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2017-02-04
Could a lion be the right pet for you?The pet delivery company seems to have run out of kittens, but lions are "practically the same thing!" Taking care of one is easy, provided one follows the steps in this handy manual. After de-crating your new pet (step No. 1) and (step No. 2) locating the enclosed feather (to be used later), the manual urges readers to try "very hard NOT to look like a zebra. Or a gazelle. Or a bunny." Step No. 4 instructs readers on the use of the feather should they have ignored step No. 3 and find themselves inside the lion (tickling his nose allows escape via sneeze). Ten large pizzas make a good meal for your lion; just watch that he doesn't eat the delivery guy too. (That feather comes in handy if he does). Litter box setup, creating a play area, and bathing are all covered in the manual. At the end of a long day, the manual assures readers they'll find their lion is indeed the purr-fect pet. Sauer's terse text, presented as the steps in the care manual for the lion, are tongue-in-cheek smile-inducing, as are accompanying black-and-white diagrams from the manual. However, their interaction with Cummings' full-color, digitally created illustrations of a light-brown-skinned child and the full-grown male lion that was delivered instead of a kitten are laugh-out-loud fun. Allow plenty of time to giggle over the details. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews