In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
In Bauer’s capable hands, the age-old simile of March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb is made quite literal. Readers follow as, one after the other, they visit the house of one little boy. “March comes with a roar. / He rattles your windows / and scratches at your door. / He turns snow to mud, / then tromps across your floor.” The lion wreaks utter havoc—until the day when the soft breeze and new tree buds cause the lion to sneeze. Riding the wave of that sneeze, the lamb comes prancing in, ushering in all things spring. And that lion? Is he going to lurk about and cause trouble? No, his rumbles are snores now, and he'll sleep away the days until next March. Bauer cleverly uses her transition sneeze to set up the possibility of a sequel—summer bugs ride in on the lamb’s mighty "A-A-A-A-CHOO!" While the text provides the skeleton, McCully’s pen, ink and watercolor illustrations truly bring the old song to life. Her lion is a wonderful cross between a fierce foe, threatening with his teeth and claws, and a party pooper, making a mess and spoiling any good times outdoors. Meanwhile, the lamb is a perfect ball of snow-white fluff. Spare backgrounds during the lion’s reign echo the bleakness of the weather and change to light blues and greens as the lamb takes charge. A good addition to the spring shelf, it is sure to find its way, roaring and bleating, to classrooms studying similes. (Picture book. 4-8) (Kirkus Reviews)The title’s familiar proverb, muse for many a postwinter bulletin board, inspires this picture-book interpretation. “March comes with a roar. / He rattles your windows / and scratches at your door” reads the text as the ink-and-watercolor illustrations show a young boy, who looks out the window and finds an ominous feline face peering in through the snow. Each subsequent scene illustrates the literal meaning a child might imagine when hearing the meteorological metaphors: a lion tracks mud, sleet, and hail into the house and just will not leave. Then, one morning, some fresh air tickles the obstinate beast’s nose, and a cute lamb comes flying out with his sneeze, spreading nature and newness. The poetic license in this final scene, as well as in some of the rhymes, feels stretched, but both the words and pictures offer a warmdepiction of the change of seasons—along with a shout-out to young springtime allergy sufferers.(Booklist-Andrew Medlar)