In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb

PreS-Gr 2—A March lion roars through a little boy's house, tracking in mud, sleet, and hail. No amount of coaxing convinces him to leave until on "one soft morning," buds and birds appear and a spring lamb rides in on the lion's gigantic sneeze. While the big cat retreats and sleeps until winter's return, the lamb presides over the new animal and plant life that signals the change of season. The large, lively illustrations, rendered in pen and ink and watercolor, depict a cantankerous lion intent on spreading blustery mayhem. In contrast, the lamb frolics in on wisps of pale green that give way to the awakening colors of spring. Animals poke their heads out of bushes and join in a comical parade featuring, among the revelers, the boy and his baby sibling, a monkey and nest of bird eggs riding on an elephant, and a roller-skating cat. Finally, the lamb, in turn, sneezes in a summery mix of bugs and flowers. The simple text plays with the popular metaphors, but the rhyme is occasionally forced. Julia Rawlinson's Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms (2009) and Douglas Florian's poems about springtime in Handsprings (2006, both HarperCollins/Greenwillow) are better vehicles for celebrating the delights of this special season.—Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT