Jim's Lion [Hardcover]

Russell Hoban (Author), Ian Andrew (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

A young boy who is afraid of the operation that can help him get well learns to overcome his fear with the help of a caring nurse.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This mysterious story by veteran Hoban (The Mouse and His Child) may be more likely to frighten children confronting a hospital stay than to allay their fears. Young Jim is afraid that when the doctors put him to sleep, they might send him "somewhere that [he] can't get back from." Nurse Bami, originally from Africa, suggests that he has an animal "finder," and that she would "have been dead three or four times already" if not for her own "finder." Through a series of dreams and with the help of Bami's "don't-run stone," he discovers his finder; on the day of his surgery Jim bravely follows it a steady, amber-eyed lion into the "dark." While Hoban (The Mouse and His Child) sensitively develops the relationship between Jim and Bami, the book's discussions about illness may lead children to worries they might not otherwise have considered (e.g., when Jim's parents ask whether he will get better, the doctor answers ominously, "It depends... on what Jim has going for him"). Andrew's (The Midnight Man) luminous, soft pencil and pastel illustrations accentuate the warmth between Jim and Bami, and create intriguing dream sequences of scumbled images and pale stars. But with its complicated plot and its convoluted theme, this tale may perplex rather than soothe its intended audience. Ages 6-10.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Critically ill children, a population largely absent from the picture-book world, will now have a hero in Jim. There are no happily ever afters, but instead the realistic victory of courage in the face of surgery, and a Christmas morning spent at home rather than in the hospital. Jim faces an unnamed but clearly life-threatening illness with the help of Nurse Bami. Described as being from Africa and with "tribal scars on her cheeks," she shares with him the idea of a finder who will bring him back from the place he enters-induced sleep. The successful aftermath of the operation is not revealed through the expected hospital scene; the story takes a chronological leap from Jim's dream of his finder, the lion of the title, to his post-release holiday at home. Large, soft illustrations are worked around sizable blocks of text to show an expressive, tow-headed child; a magnificent lion; and loving adults. Movement is shown as a progression of figures, multiple Jims climbing to the top of a cliff, several lions as the animal comes nearer and nearer. Breathtaking pastels in understated blues, greens, and tans with subtle pencil cross-hatching perfectly match the quiet courage of the boy depicted in the gracefully simple text.

Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (October 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763611751
• ISBN-13: 978-0763611750
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 10.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,478,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Don't Run Stone, February 28, 2002

By 

susan carnes (Houston, Tx USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jim's Lion (Hardcover)

A really beautiful book! Excellent story with magnificent illustrations. The story has a great and lovely message which can be easily interpreted and enjoyed by children and adults. After hearing the story, my first and second graders were scouring the schoolyard for the perfect stone.