Christian the Lion
Grade 3-6–Christian the lion lived in London with two antique dealers until they decided he needed to be trained to survive in the wild and live out a happier life in Africa. Bourke and Rendall tell this strange tale of buying the lion cub in a department store, giving him the run of their home and store, and introducing him to their life in the thick of the city. They describe where he liked to sit, what he liked to do, and how he reacted to new situations. All of the circumstances pile up on one another, making for a slow-paced narrative. The story is based on the authors' experiences, but, according to the CIP, the names of people, places, dates, the sequences and details of events, and the actions and conversations of real-life figures have been changed. So it is difficult to know what is true and what is not other than their love for this gentle lion and their understandable unhappiness about their preparations for his eventual departure. Some of the photos seen on YouTube are grouped with other black-and-white and color shots in the center of the book. Back matter contains tidbits about Christian, lions in general, and various famous animals. This is not an essential purchase.–Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.