A Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals by Lucy Ruth Cummins - OPTIONAL

Cummins Lucy Ruth A Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals. PICTUREBOOK Antheneum Books, 2016. $16.99.  

A hungry lion sits in the midst of a collection of small animals.  Each page turn shows less and less animals sitting with the lion, until 1 remains, then none. (What happened?) After a pair of Black pages, the lion turns on a light to be surprised by a party given by all the small animals. But wait! The lion is still hungry - with a glance to the reader and a quick pull on the light cord, the lion shuts off the lights, when they turn on, all the small animals are gone, and the lion isn’t hungry anymore.  But the story isn’t over, the lion gets his due, and one lone animal stays to eat the cake.  

This was a terrible story.  The small animals were cute and sweet and throwing a party for the lion. Now, it doesn’t explicitly say he ate them, but still. . . This is too dark for the Pre-K kids.  A fun read aloud with lots of opportunity for finding and pointing, but the concept.  I don’t think so.  

EL (K-3) OPTIONAL  Lisa Librarian