Book review: The Lion Inside
The very best picture books for young children have a crystal clear message at their heart.
And that’s what makes The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright and Jim Field a real winner. It’s a sweet story, told in rhyme, about a tiny mouse who lives under a rock and is ignored by everyone he encounters. Worse still, he’s trodden on, sat on and has no friends at all.
But in the middle of the night he suddenly has a brainwave. If only he could learn to roar like a lion his whole life would change. So he bravely sets off – “hoping not to be dinner” – to visit the big, bold lion who lives at the top of the rock. Only when he gets there he’s in for a surprise.
Rachel Bright made her name with picture books like the Love Monster series and her Brightside stationery has sold more than 7.5 million cards and three million gifts around the world. She now lives in Dorset with her fiancée Robbie, baby daughter River (lovely name), a dog called Elvis and Superman the cat. The Lion Inside is a classic in the making and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright and Jim Field (Orchard Books, £6.99)