This one goes out especially for Susanna Hill's fabulous brainchild, Perfect Picture Book Fridays. I have a detailed review of this book on my blog Snuggle With Picture Books.
Given that it's back to school time for kids, there would be a number of them joining a new school, changing schools, joining school for the first time. This book can help deal with a number of uncertainties that could crop up in a child's mind - no sense of belonging, not fitting in, struggling to create her own space in the crowd, self doubt, and so on.
Given that it's back to school time for kids, there would be a number of them joining a new school, changing schools, joining school for the first time. This book can help deal with a number of uncertainties that could crop up in a child's mind - no sense of belonging, not fitting in, struggling to create her own space in the crowd, self doubt, and so on.
Title: A Lion In Paris
Author and illustrator: Beatrice Alemagna
Translated from the French (original) by Mariette Robbes
Publisher: Katha (in India), 2009 / Editions Autrement (Paris), 2006
Genre: Picture Book
Age group: 4-7
Theme: Being yourself; the journey of self discovery; fitting in.
Opening Sentence: He was a big lion, young, curious and lonely.
Synopsis: A lion from Savannah saunters into Paris in search of 'love, work, a future'. Pretty much what you and I do it for too when we relocate. This story is about his journey from being an apprehensive and unsure newcomer in the city to gradually earning his sense of belonging and rightful place in the crowd.
Why I like this book: In a gentle, non preachy way, this book shows a young reader that the day you learn to be at ease with yourself, you find your place and contentment in the world, no matter how cold, unforgiving or indifferent it may have seemed until then.
Moreover, so subtly are the sights and sounds of Paris integrated into the illustrations (and the text) that by the time a child is through with this book, she'd have picked up more about the city than the average 6th grader being 'taught' about Paris in class!
Activities: With this book in hand, you'll never run out of interesting things to do with your child.
1) If new to Paris, step one is to acquaint yourself with the city's buildings and step two, point these out to her. Here's a great place to begin. This one's another.
2) Get your child to read the facial expressions of the people floating around the pages and to make her wonder why it may be so.
3) You and your child could create your own stories around your city's noticeable landmarks.
4) Play a game of I-felt-out-of-place-when...among yourselves.
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