If You See a Lion
Karl Newson and Andrea Stegmaier
Words & Pictures

First there was Emma Yarlett’s Nibbles, the book devouring little monster and now courtesy of Karl Newson, we have a lion on the loose – ‘orange, furry, handsome and tall’ by all accounts – that’s had the impudence to eat the story right out of his book; not to mention the corner of its cover. Well really!

Not content with the story though, this creature has also consumed a brass band, a penguin, a troll, a pirate, a wizard and a dinosaur; and don’t believe a word when you read that he’s ‘Dashing, charming, gentle, fun’. Far from it; for this beastie has also devoured an entire forest, a river, a mountain peak

plus a dragon and a sprite. And he doesn’t stop there. What does stop our errant lion right in his tracks however, is a cry

from the little rabbit that’s been on his trail throughout.

Does the little long eared fellow fall for the lion’s beguiling invitation? Far from it. Instead he gives the guzzler what for

and then makes him do what young listeners will have been hoping all along.

And how does this rhyming hide and seek story finish? Well, let’s merely say, satisfyingly, roaringly well and leave you to discover for yourself.

Karl and illustrator Andrea Stegmaier have created a corker of a book that little ones will relish as much as readers aloud who can have enormous fun sharing it with them. Rabbit’s actions throughout are especially entertaining.