PreSchool-Grade 2-- Although this title seems drippingly allegorical, the story is actually honest, light, and direct. A fine collaborative effort between author and illustrator, it delivers a believable picture of a preschool boy who has a freewheeling imagination, supportive parents, asthma, and a life that works well. Playing in the bathtub, Sean is a hippo; eating broccoli, he is a giant who crunches trees between his teeth. During an attach of asthma, the lion of his fantasy stops roaring and wheezes, feels tired, and wants to cry. His mother shows up with a nebulizer, but Sean is the one who turns it on, and as he breathes deeply, he becomes a jet pilot. Wescott's clean-looking watercolor-and-ink illustrations take the story's action to places where text would have been limiting, and capture the positive feeling London's tone demands. A preliminary note is frank and encouraging. The expression of relaxation as an important tool for managing illness, and the emphasis on the value of children's natural imagination is simple, strong, and empowering. London also introduces some basic information and terminology. --Liza Bliss, formerly at Leominster Public Library, MA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
The book is, however, based upon the circumstances of a real boy, Sean, who has asthma. In the story Sean pretends to be a Lion going about normal stalking activities in the jungle. When he suffers an asthma attack and becomes weakened he is no longer able to perform his boyish and lionlike activities with a lion's strength. The coughing and wheezing frighten Sean and the courage of the Lion vanishes as Sean lies down and is confined to his nebulizer. Sean's mother offers him a new avenue to explore with his imagination when she suggests he be a jet pilot. The whirring of the machine and the gas mask on his face provide realistic props for Sean's visualization. This simple story shows how sick children can use creative visualization and employ vivid imaginary settings as a basis for coping with their disease or disability. As Sean's bronchial tubes dilate and more oxygen is able to enter his lungs, the Lion in Sean returns and once again Sean's imagination takes him away to his jungle adventures. This book would be particularly valuable to read to junior children. They would understand and identify with Sean making believe he is a lion or a hippo in the jungle and then as a jet pilot. The text introduces the language of the special illness that Sean has. Words like asthma, breathe, cough and wheeze. The language also addresses the emotions that Sean goes through like fear, hurt, and the use of a lion obviously demonstrates the courage that Sean displays. The language is simple enough too for older children to read independently and introduces text challenges like the sound effects of the machine (nebulizer) and the lion - Rroooarrr, Zooom, Grrrrrrrroww.
