"But winter doesn't feel all that cold with a friend."While Lion is outside working in his garden, a bird flying in formation falls injured to the ground. His group goes on without him, but Lion takes him in and helps him heal. They spend the winter together. Then, when the flock returns, the bird flies off with them. "And so it goes. Sometimes life is like that." When Autumn comes, Lion wonders if his friend will return. And at last, they are together again.Sweet story of seasonal friendship. Lion talks, but Bird uses gestures as they develop a friendship after Bird is injured (we don’t find out how it was injured). Passage of a year is shown through the soft, earthy-toned illustrations, as we see them enjoying the wood fire, sledding, then seeing buds popping up through the snow, and gardening until Bird’s flock returns and he flies off with them. Double page spreads fill the page, the single page are in an oval frame with sparse folksy art. Lion’s home looks like a yurt! Thick pages and number of pages do not hold to the usual 48-page picture book format which is refreshing - seems like the book fits the story instead of the story having to fit a book template. Sparse text is small font and does not stand out from the illustrations. Some pages have no text, but the story line can easily be followed. Although a predictable ending with Bird returning to Lion’s house when his flock flies south in the fall, this gentle story could be used for predicting, and calendar studies.
What do You think about De Leeuw En Het Vogeltje (2014)?
What a lovely story and the illustrations help so much with the emotions of the story.
—lala
Top Ten Crafts and Gardening Books for Youth 2014 (Booklist)
—firecrkr9
lovely sweet story about friendship, nice drawing
—swaggy_anni
