Dumazi and the Big Yellow Lion by Valanga Khoza illustrated by Matt Ottley

Dumazi, a Zulu girl, is on her way to the waterhole to fill her empty calabash pot. She comes across a lion caught in a trap.

"I've been trapped for many days without food or water ... Please save my life and set me free!"

Dumazi has to decide what to do? This story is filled with problem solving and decision making. She asks the lion to promise not to eat her.  He makes the promise so Dumazi sets the lion free but once the ropes fall away he breaks his promise.

"I am so thirsty, I could drink the whole African River Limpopo. And I'm so hungry I could eat a Zulu girl."

Dumazi is shocked but also she is a quick witted girl. She offers to let the lion eat her but suggests they should first talk to the other animals and ask their advice. The lion reluctantly agrees. They ask the giraffe but Aunty Giraffe is worried about humans and the way they are cutting down trees. The giraffe tells the lion he can eat the girl. Dumazi quickly suggests they need to ask one more animal. The lion reluctantly agrees and so walk on and meet an elephant. Just like the giraffe, the elephant is worried about humans - the poachers take tusks. The elephant tells the lion he can eat the girl.

Luckily for Dumazi, a small monkey has been listening to all of this. He is such a clever monkey. He challenges the lion to show him the ropes that held him captive and then he tricks the lion back into those ropes. The lion is trapped, Dumazi is saved but is everything really resolved? No Dumazi feels sorry for the lion.

"She picked up her kalimba and returned to him. From nearby, she played gentle music and the big yellow lion fell into a deep, deep sleep. Dumazi crept up to the sleeping animal and untied the hunter's ropes."

You may be surprised to see what happens next.

This book is the complete package. It is a clever story that reads like a fable or a trickster tale. It has vibrant illustrations, a text with just the right amount of repetition for young readers and as a bonus the book comes with a wonderful music CD all packaged in a beautiful hardcover book. This is a book to enjoy in a classroom, in a library and it is also a book you should consider for your home shelves.

I say music because this CD is so much more than just a reading of the story. It has music composed by Matt Ottley and sung by Valanga Khoza.  The orchestration matches each animal that Dumazi encounters. It is a really special listening treat.  Here is a set of teachers notes from Scholastic made available by Pegi Williams. This is a book you should share with a music teacher. It would be perfect for a collaboration between the library and a music specialist if you are lucky enough to have someone who has this role in your school.

I am going to predict (here is another one) that THIS book will make our CBCA notable titles and from there the 2020 Book of the Year short list.

Listen to an interview with Valanga Khoza where he talks about playing the kalimba, he sings and plays the kalimba in this interview too and he explains his childhood in the Limpopo province of South Africa.