When I first discovered this little book in the 70s, I remember thinking, "If I could write one book in all of my life like this one, I would be happy." It remains a favourite, for me, for our children, our grandchildren and even for my husband. It is a book that children request over and over again and one that parents and grandparents never tire of reading.
Margaret May and Jenny Williams
A Lion In The Meadow was Margaret Mahy's first book. Since then, she has written over 100 picture books, 40 novels and 20 collections of short stories.
A New Zealand writer, living in the area just demolished by an earthquake (Feb.22, 2011), she has received many awards for her books, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award, in 2006. A bronze bust of her stands outside the Christchurch Arts Centre.
The illustrations by Jenny Williams are bright, colourful and although they look simple, aren't. Children delight in finding the lion hidden among the grasses, with just his blue eyes peeking out and the little mice on top of the leaves and stalks of corn.
A Lion In The Meadow
This book is a treasure. It gives the child's imagination free range and is slightly quirky, which children love. They can identify with the fears of the little boy and rejoice with relief, at his escapes. The language is original, direct, matter-of-fact, yet flows like poetry. It is a simple, but delightful story.
It tells of a little boy who believes that there is a "…big, roaring, yellow, whiskery lion in the meadow". His mother tries to deal with the problem by telling the little boy that there is no lion in the meadow, only grass and trees, and suggests he go and have another look. But he is too afraid.
So the mother, in her mistaken wisdom, gives him a tiny matchbox and tells him that inside that matchbox is a tiny dragon and that if he takes it outside and opens it, the tiny dragon will grow into a big dragon and chase the lion away.
The mother goes on peeling the potatoes and off goes the little boy with the tiny matchbox.
But it all goes very wrong.
Soon into the house rushes a big, roaring, yellow, whiskery lion, who hides in the broom cupboard. He is followed by a terrified little boy who tells his mother that there is now no lion in the meadow, there is a dragon in the meadow. The matchbox dragon grew too big.
So the little boy and the lion hide together in the broom cupboard and become good friends. He discovers that the lion eats only apples.
Happily Ever After
The mother tries to explain that there wasn't a real dragon in the matchbox, that it was all pretend. The little boy will have none of it. "It turned out to be true after all", he said. "You should have looked in the matchbox first". And off he goes to play with his new found friend, the lion, in another meadow, and the dragon stays where he is and everyone is happy.
It is the classic story of a single child finding his own make-believe playmate.
For me the only sad part of the story was the last line: "The mother never ever made up a story again".
Source:
- A Lion In The Meadow, Margaret Mahy, Pictures by Jenny Williams, Published by Puffin Books, Penguin Books Ltd., Middlesex, England, 1969
Heather Donaldson - Heather Donaldson is a writer, a registered nurse with a diploma in nutrition, an interest in natural medicine, animals and environment.
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