As Brave as a Lion

AS BRAVE AS A LION is an adorable picture book about facing your fears and finding your brave. A young girl and her lion are best friends - he helps her to be brave. However, when they go to the playground and climb up the steps to the really big slide, they both get scared at the top and find themselves stuck. Seeing that her lion is also scared, the girl finds her brave and helps them both to go down the slide. To their surprise, it is super fun! They love it and spend the rest of the evening be brave together at the park and celebrating helping each other to be brave.

What I loved: This is a cute story about friendship and finding your brave. Feeling scared is something that will resonate with little ones, whether about heights or other new experiences. While it can be tough to find a way to be brave in that moment, the book encourages children to embrace their friendship and find other ways to gather their bravery and give it a try - they may find out that it is really fun! With colorful illustrations and adorable main characters, this is a visually delightful book as well, really bringing to life the story throughout. The book will appeal to older toddler and preschool aged readers for whom the themes will resonate well.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, there are some pages that are really tough to read aloud, as they are medium blue colored font on top of dark blue backgrounds. For caregivers who will be reading this book, it felt like a vision test, even when not in low light (such as at bedtime). Make work better for younger caregivers who can read these select pages more easily.

Final verdict: AS BRAVE AS A LION is a cute and charming story about facing your fears and bravery that will work well for toddlers and preschoolers.