Oscar's Lion by Adam Baron illustrated by Benji Davies

Reading this book is a roller-coaster ride. Oscar wakes up (a little later than usual) and he wonders why his parents didn't call out telling him to get ready for school. He picks up his favourite book, reading this is part of their family morning routine, and he heads along the hallway to his parent's room. BUT his mum and dad are gone and in their place he finds a huge lion. 

Sadly, I cannot tell you too much more because anything I say here will spoil this story. Since I have given this book four stars and because the paperback edition has only just arrived here in Australia I am going to suggest you go out and find or buy or borrow this book yourself - I am certain you will enjoy it because there are so many surprises here including flying a spitfire plane and meeting Admiral Nelson and being part of the Battle of Trafalgar but just how this, and many other things happen, and how it all relates to a lion, are things you need to discover for yourself. 

Content warning - there is a distressing scene near the beginning of this book (it's okay the lion has not eaten Oscar's parents) involving a bully and a birthday party and some vicious cruelty towards young Oscar but the resolution of this will give you a smile. 

This is definitely a story where you just have to suspend disbelief and roll with it. There is no point in wondering why Oscar is not more upset about his missing parents and there is no point in thinking it is all very convenient that the lion can shape-shift into an insect or a bird. Yes, there are some deeply sad moments in this story along with some that are funny and slightly incredible. As an adult reader you may have guessed the ending long before your young reading companion, but I think that will just allow you both to go back and hunt out the story signposts. The reviewer at BookBag disagrees. 

The narrative voice accepts all of the magical at face value and is a skilful portrayal of a child’s view of the complexity of life as the plot tumbles through historical, real life and eccentric exploits. Books for Keeps

Listen to the first couple of chapters here. The audio is perfect and this could be way to introduce this story to your young reader or library group. You can read a brief interview with Adam Baron about the topic of grief. And you can read more about him and see his other books here. 

My copy of this book has an extra very appealing feature - the fore edge is red. The fore edge is a term used to describe the vertical edge of a book opposite the spine. The part you see when the book is closed. This, along with illustrations by the wonderful Benji Davies, is why I picked up this book in one of our large chain bookstores.