Lion Lights My Invention That Made Peace with Lions

Winner of the 2023 Children’s Africana Book Award (CABA), which is awarded by The Center for African Studies at Howard University.

Outstanding Science Trade Book for 2022 by the National Science Teaching Association and the Children’s Book Council.

California Eureka Silver Honoree 2022

A story of ingenuity and perseverance.

Richard Turere’s own story: Richard grew up in Kenya as a Maasai boy, herding his family’s cattle, which represented their wealth and livelihood. Richard’s challenge was to protect their cattle from the lions who prowled the night just outside the barrier of acacia branches that surrounded the farm’s boma, or stockade. Though not well-educated, 12-year-old Richard loved tinkering with electronics. Using salvaged components, spending $10, he surrounded the boma with blinking lights, and the system works; it keeps lions away. His invention, Lion Lights, is now used in Africa, Asia, and South America to protect farm animals from predators.  color throughout

Richard Turere grew up as a Maasai cattle herder in Kenya and is an undergraduate student at the African Leadership University, where he is studying Global Challenges with a focus on wildlife conservation. He invented Lion Lights at the age of 12 to protect his family’s cows outside Nairobi National Park from lions, scrounging parts from a junkyard and building the prototype for $15. Lion Lights are widely recognized for their singular ingenuity in promoting a sustainable, peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife, and Richard shared his innovation with the world at the TED Global Stage in California. He received a special commendation from Africa Leadership Awards for his critical role in protecting and creating awareness around the crisis facing lions in Kenya. He is recognized as Kenya’s youngest patent inventor and, in 2018, received the Anzisha prize award. In 2020 he became a Young Natgeo explorer, and he was a finalist at Future for Nature awards in 2021.

Shelly Pollock taught remedial reading and math to children and adults in the US for twenty-five years. After retiring, she and her husband sold everything and traveled in their RV and Jeep for fourteen years while Shelly wrote children’s stories on a moving table, eventually settling in the Southwest. Shelly hopes that Lion Lights, her debut picture book, will inspire children everywhere to realize that no matter how young they are or how big their challenges, they can accomplish anything.

Sonia Maria Luce Possentini is an award-winning illustrator in Modena, Italy. After earning a degree in Art History at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, she became a painter and illustrator and is a professor of illustration at the International School of Comics in Reggio Emilia. Sonia Possentini has illustrated thirteen award-winning children’s books, including Night Creatures (2021, Millbrook Press); Hold On to Your Music (2021, Little, Brown); and Lion Lights (2022, Tilbury House).