“Chloe and the Lion,”
by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex.
Hyperion Books, New York, 2012, 48 pages, Grades 2-4.
When children are learning about literature, they encounter many things. First, they are introduced to the main characters, also called the protagonists. Second, they discover the people or creatures fighting the protagonists. They are known as the antagonists.
Next, students learn about the story’s setting, background information and plot. Finally, good writers show that a story can have different points of view that can enrich the tale.
Mac Barnett has written such a book. In this picture book, we see the main character, Chloe, confronting the antagonist, the Lion. Barnett humorously inserts any number of zany points of view in the story to create a funny story. The name of this comical book is “Chloe and the Lion.”
The story begins with Chloe looking for change under couches, rugs and pinball machines. She keeps the change tucked away and spends the money for rides on a merry-go-round. One day, Chloe gets lucky and finds a great deal of change and gleefully heads to the merry-go-round. The girl rides so many times that she becomes very dizzy.
Stepping off the ride, she stumbles into the nearby forest and gets lost. Suddenly, a lion jumps out of the forest. Chloe puts up her hands to fight the lion. But the lion is drawn as a dragon. At this point, the author appears and tells the illustrator that the drawing is all wrong.
Soon, the illustrator and the author are fighting about what a lion looks like. The author fires the illustrator and begins drawing the story himself. But being a good writer does not make a good artist. The new pictures are terrible. Chloe tells the author to get a new illustrator because his pictures are badly drawn. With this, the author gets a new illustrator.
Now we have new pictures, but they anger the author and another fight ensues. The second artist is fired. Chloe instructs the author on the points of view in art and in the story. Having been instructed by the main character, the author rehires the original painter. Finally, Chloe can get on with the story.
She continues through the forest and meets a lumberjack. When she asks him for assistance, he responds that he only looks for wolves dressed in old ladies’ dresses. This does not help the child. Suddenly, she hears the lion roaring deep in the forest. Chloe gathers up her courage and faces the lion. What happens?
Does Chloe face down the lion? Do the artist and the author keep arguing about how the characters in the story are to be drawn? Who has the right point of view on this story anyway?
How does Chloe finally force the lion into action? To find out the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out “Chloe and the Lion” by Mac Barnett.
This is a funny story, but some primary school children might get confused by the author and illustrator moving in and out of the story. So, it will be helpful to explain the parts of the book to the students before reading this tale.
Adults will find much of the text and the arguments between the author and illustrator funny. Using Chloe to straighten out the adults is also clever.
If you are looking for a great read-aloud, this is the ticket. It is zany and fun. I hope you like it as much as my wife and I did. Enjoy!
