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Title: Enchanted Lions
Author: David Greenberg
"K-Gr 4 — It's nighttime, and young Rose looks out her window toward the ocean. "Enchanted lions climb out of the sea/And shake their manes to dry./They caper and slap,/Snarl and purr./They nuzzle and nip/And lazily lick each other's fur.' She makes friends with one of them, and soon she is riding on his back high in the sky among the stars. The rhyming quatrains contain some memorable imagery: "The blossoms of a pear tree/Suddenly rustle and sigh.' Beautiful illustrations display shooting stars and dramatic visualizations of the constellations. Rose's radiant red hair and the lion's vibrant golden figure glow against the deep blue sky and serene green sea. There is a lovely picture of Rose and her lion hugging. The creature's golden mane may remind readers of William Pene Du Bois' fanciful depiction of the regal beast in Lion (Viking, 1956; o.p.). The illustrations are lovely."
School Library Journal
Kirsten Cutler
Sonoma County Library
CA
"A fantastical journey through the constellations begins at bedtime when Rose, a young girl who lives by the sea, beckons for a ride out her bedroom window to an enchanted sea-dwelling lion. 'The lion and his Rose / Swoop through outer space, / Past the giant rafters / Holding everything in place.' Cetus the whale rescues them from the pull of a black hole, and the lion and Rose return safely back to Earth, Rose to her bed to sleep and the lion back to the sea. The gentle, rhyming text and the mottled, softly colored scratchboard — like illustrations work together to convey a quiet, calm tone for this heavenly romp. It is just right for nighttime sharing."
Booklist
"When the 'sea is a maze of swirls' and the 'night is ablaze with pearls,' Rose opens her shutters and discovers enchanted lions rising from the ocean to cavort on the sand. As one of the enchanted lions bounds into her room, Rose fearlessly climbs on his back and they 'swoop through outer space,' past constellations Pegasus and Pisces. Racing with the unicorn Monoceros, they 'jump-rope crescent moons, hopscotch asteroids' and are rescued from a black hole by the stellar whale Cetus. Safely back home, Rose and her enchanted lion rub noses before she tucks in for the night with her kitty. Greenberg's cadenced, rhyming text relies on images of 'cosmic suction cups,' 'giant rafters holding everything in place' and 'interstellar voids' to convey galactic timelessness and enormity. Using simple forms washed with the perfect palette of grainy midnight blues, sea greens and tawny yellows, Swarner's luminous illustrations highlight Rose's freeform romp with her very cuddly lion across a glorious star — studded cosmos of double-page spreads. An enchanting bedtime caper. (Picture book. 5-8)"
Kirkus Reviews