Nanta's Lion: A Search-And-Find Adventure - Hardcover

MacDonald, Suse

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688131255 ISBN 13: 9780688131258

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1995

Synopsis

Readers accompany Nanta, a curious young Maasai girl, on her search for a lion that roams the plains and witness her discovery of several interesting animals while piecing together visual clues that lead to the lion itself.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

Caldecott Honor artist MacDonald (Alphabatics) makes hay with an unusual format, using die-cut half pages to deliver a snazzy surprise ending. "Far away in Africa," an inquisitive Maasai girl sets out to see the lion that has been attacking the villagers' cattle. Nanta spots indigenous fauna during her trek but, no matter where she looks, "there was no lion." As a series of die-cut partial pages reveals the rolling vistas of a savannah, the reader is unlikely to notice that the pictures on the verso pages are slowly combining to produce an image of a recumbent lion. Foliage on a hilly horizon, for example, becomes the creature's mane; two parrots on the penultimate spread turn out to be the eyes. In the last view, every feature falls into place, and the reader's delight in recognizing the king of the jungle will be deepened by the deadpan text: "Nanta was thirsty after all that walking. She sat down [against the hill that doubles as the lion's flank] to drink her milk. She never did see the lion. Did you?" Ages 3-up.
- to drink her milk. She never did see the lion. Did you?" Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 3^-6. Curious about the lion that has stolen cattle from her Maasai village, Nanta sets out to find it. In a series of attractive double-page spreads painted in flat colors, the girl walks across the countryside to a neighboring village. Cut to different shapes and heights, the pages overlap, adding depth to the landscape. On the final spread, the page edges outline a lion's mane, eyes, and nose. The story ends with the words, "She never did see the lion. Did you?" Though they may have dozed through the pages in which Nanta walks about and observes various African animals, children will wake up to point out the lion that Nanta is sitting on but does not see. This state of affairs may not sound logical, but it works well visually and forms a child-pleasing climax to the simple (and rather slight) story. Carolyn Phelan

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0688131255
• ISBN 13: 9780688131258
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1