Honey ... Honey ... LION!

This sweet picture book, subtitled A Story from Africa, arrived in a big Amazon box on Thursday -- about 20 minutes before I was scheduled to leave (fittingly) for a long weekend in Longboat Key.  Only two more books would fit in my book bag, but (ahem), I'd ordered 13.  What to do, what to do? After a super fast glance at my pile, I snatched up Miss Rumphius and Honey ... Honey ... LION!

SO glad I did.

I have to explain something ... I rarely know what the books I buy will be about. I choose them for reasons other than an interest in the plot. Very often the title catches my attention, and other times, I'm intrigued by a snippet I saw about a books' illustrations, the background of the author, an interesting setting ... well, honestly, who knows what I'm thinking when I pick up a book?  Just yesterday, I added a title to my "must-buy" journal: What Color is Caesar?  I know absolutely nothing about the book, other than these two things: there's a black-and-white spotted dog on the cover, and the page I randomly opened to shows Caesar (evidently the spotted dog) asking a guru whether he, Caesar is black with white spots ... or white with black spots?  Well seriously, how can I resist deep theological questions from a spotted dog?

Back to Honey ... Honey ... LION!  When I saw the title, I pictured Mr. and Mrs. Critter at a picnic.  Mr. Critter is absorbed in reading the sports section of the St. Pete Times while Mrs. Critter busily arranges food, chatters about not-much, and enjoys the sunshine.  Suddenly, she spots a lion.  All she can think to do is try to get Mr. Critter's attention by swatting at him and sputtering, "Honey ... Honey!"

I was wrong. 

This delightful story is rife with critters, but none married. Yep, there is a lion, and yep, the exclamation point in the title is warranted. The Botswana-based legend retold in the picture book is funny, a little wicked, and highly instructive.  It goes something like this: "If you don't share the honey, the honeyguide will lead you to a lion." Intrigued?  I hope so. This book is fabulous and well worth adding to your library.

Some instructional ideas:

Thematically, the book would pair well with other texts concerning greed, trust, communication, fear, and community.  A slew of writing prompts practically announce themselves. The book is an obvious choice for teaching animal fables (which almost every literary culture includes).  And this might be a stretch, but I'm intrigued by the possibility of pairing this book with the "Prologue" to The Canterbury Tales.  They both offer a brilliant cross-section of an entire sociological group, and in both stories, much can be deduced through characterization.  My kiddos struggle with this second idea; maybe a look at Honey as a pre-read would set the stage?

In a science class, the book would make a great companion to lessons on symbiosis, cooperation, the delta ecosystem, and animal communication.

And it's impossible to ignore the possibilities this book poses for art classes.  I've been to Africa, and I laughed out loud as I turned the pages, marveling at the richness with which Jan Brett captured safari county.  She so perfectly rendered the swish-swish of the zebra moving through the tall, dry grass; the speckled, gossipy guinea hens with their bright, blue throats; and the friendly majesty of the baobab tree.  She framed every page with borders of beads, feathers, woven mats, braided animal hair, and cameo-sized portraits of the book's characters. What art teacher and student would not love to lean their heads together and marvel at Brett's works of art?

And don't even get me started on the possibilities for middle school social studies ...

Gosh, I'm glad I took this book to Longboat Key. And how nice to now meander over to my tall stack of new picture books. Let's see what Miss Rumphius has to say to high school students.