Enchanted Lion Books

A fun and thoroughly entertaining ode to bedtime books that still promises to leave the little ones heavy lidded and ready for sleep. This delightful picture book starts with a very big—and very relatable—problem: No matter how hard she tries, our protagonist just can’t seem to fall asleep. Could she have skipped a step in her bedtime routin? ust in case, it’s best to do it all over again! So she brushes her teeth, puts on her pajamas, and says good night to Daddy. But no luck—she still can’t get to sleep! So she ventures outside, where she meets a very sleepy bear who shares her same problem. To help him, she runs inside for a book to read him a bedtime story. In the blink of an eye, the bear is snoring away, and the girl suddenly gets it. That’s it! She forgot to have her dad read her a bedtime story. And so, it’s back to the house, back to her dad, back to bed, and finally . . . to sleep! Children and parents alike will love this story that celebrates the magic of bedtime stories.

From the father of modern Italian children's literature, a guide to fairytales and folk tales and their great advantages in teaching creative storytelling. A groundbreaking pedagogical work that is also a handbook for writers of all ages and kinds, The Grammar of Fantasy gives each of us a playful, practical path to finding our own voice through the power of storytelling. Full of ideas, glosses on fairytales, stories, and wide-ranging activities, including the fantastic binomial, this book changed how creative arts were taught in Italian schools. Gianni Rodari is widely regarded as the father of modern Italian children's literature, but he is also remembered for his visionary pedagogy, and it is these two fields he combines in this revolutionary essay collection. Translated into English by acclaimed children's historian Jack Zipes and illustrated for the first time ever by Matthew Forsythe, this edition of The Grammar of Fantasy is one to live with and return to for its humor, intelligence, and truly deep understanding of children. As translator and esteemed fairytale scholar Jack Zipes puts it, "Rodari grasped children's need to play with life's rules by using the grammar of their own imaginations. They must be encouraged to question, challenge, destroy, mock, eliminate, generate, and reproduce their own language and meanings through stories that will enable them to narrate their own lives." "I hope this small book," writes Rodari, "can be useful for all those people who believe it is necessary for the imagination to have a place in education; for all those who trust in the creativity of children; and for all those who know the liberating value of the word."

In this charming translated work from Finland, an imaginative child makes a scrapbook of "lasts" instead of "firsts," inviting readers to reflect on what they hold onto and save. Some people collect pens, shells, or stamps. Others collect friends, trips, or world records. This picture book shares one girl’s unusual collection: a collection of lasts. With a feel for the poignant, the bittersweet, and the odd, an observant, emotionally astute child shares the whimsical, eccentric, and touching lasts she has collected, from the last day cold enough for a wool cap, to the last anxious breath before a high dive, to the last person in her class to lose a tooth, to the last piece of chocolate, to the last words of a whole life. Beautifully illustrated in pencil and watercolor, this is an exploration of lasts that might set something new in motion—or might bring finality. There are feelings of fear, sadness, contentment, longing, and happiness here, making for a wistful picture book in which a young girl’s collection of last moments is depicted with a warm touch. Odds and Ends is a collection of memories which invites open discussion of each reader’s personal lasts.

A self-important but good-hearted toad, with an ample amount of self-love, discovers his love for others in this entertaining and charming picture book!When Truman Toad—the most stubborn, perfectionist toad in Green Grove—wakes up one morning from a dream about the perfect hug, he knows exactly what he must do: find whoever is holding the other half. With a charmingly witty text by author Oren Lavie and playful illustrations by beloved artist Anke Kuhl, Truman Toad and the Quest for the Perfect Hug is a delightful tale that reminds us that the best things in life will always take us by surprise!

From Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Ryoji Arai comes a gorgeous picture book about a child learning to accept mistakes, while having a magical experience in the wild, beautiful snow. After accidentally ripping the pages of his father's favorite book, a pensive, heavy-hearted boy leaves his cozy, warm house to ski through the snow. There, in the quiet and the cold, he stumbles upon a small stage that's all lit up-a tiny snow theater, with tiny snow people and tiny ballerinas-that soon transforms into a large snow theater, presided over by the majestic snow queen. As the boy joins the chorus of snow children, the snow queen lifts up her arms and snow falls and falls and falls, until all the boy can see is white-a snowstorm! And it's at that precise moment that the boy's father, who let his son go off alone but never lost track of him, is there to take his hand as they return home together. Originally published in Japan and written and illustrated by one of the country's most important picture book makers, The Snow Theater is a quietly enchanting tale about the wild beauty of nature, the powers of the imagination, and the unconditional love of a parent for their child.

In this enchantingly whimsical tale from Italy's great children's author, Gianni Rodari, a young onion named Cipollino sets out into the world to study scoundrels, and in so doing, he undoes the tyrannical Prince Lemon, while making a legion of friends along the way. Cipollino is young, brave, clever, and determined—exactly the kind of valiant hero that’s bound to triumph in fairy tales. In this colorful, episodic adventure story, in which nearly everyone is animal, vegetable, or fruit, Cipollino leaves home and sets off into the world to free his wrongfully imprisoned father. In the process, he faces off against scoundrels of all kinds with wit and humor, while winning both allies and friends. What hangs in the balance is the freedom of an entire kingdom from the ridiculous rules of the all-powerful Prince Lemon and the dignity of each blueberry, string bean, and spider! This is a charming, comic, highly-readable work of fiction for readers 9 and up, which also has the distinction of being one of Hayao Miyazaki’s
"50 Favorite Children’s Books" of all time.

From Marginalian creator Maria Popova and acclaimed illustrator Sarah Jacoby comes this gorgeous picture book about the dark side of the moon, and creative solitude as an antidote to loneliness. Feeling like the loneliest creature on Earth, Re decides to go live in the coziest place on the moon. Re packs a suitcase and takes off on a beam of light, shooting out into the cosmic aloneness of space. Re's aim is to go into the cozy nook that the moon is said to possess. But shortly after arriving, Re makes a surprising discovery: Re is not alone. Indeed, another lonely soul has beaten Re there! And so, Re meets Mi, and while each lives in their own chamber of the nook, these two single souls still become, at times, a kind of togetherness. Each remains alone but less lonely, and now each can watch over the solitude of the other. Moreover, on certain nights, the solitary songs of them both might be heard cadencing the night together, in harmony, across the vast and starry sky.

From award-winning illustrator Esmé Shapiro and debut talent Kate Finney comes the unforgettable story of Belladonna, a spunky, beautiful plant who must learn to survive—even though she can’t flee from those who want to devour her! Everyone in the forest knows about Belladonna—that tall, beautiful plant whose berries are so delicious that they’re forever being gobbled up. Day after day, poor Belladonna is nibbled at until there’s almost nothing left of her. But unlike the animals who can leap, climb, or fly away, Belladonna, being a plant, is firmly rooted in place. So what’s a plant to do to survive? This is the story of how Belladonna learns to harness her own chemical powers to protect herself and her descendants . . . and how she learns from a great cast of plant and animal characters—culminating in a dandy pheasant—that no one ever survives alone. This one-of-a-kind picture book is gorgeously illustrated by Esmé Shapiro with wit and humor, and has an astonishingly epic framing that carries Belladonna across eons into her final, powerful form!

Interweaving science and storytelling, spirituality and art, a neuroscientist and an artist guide us toward a deeper understanding of how radically interconnected all of life is. Starting from science, while reaching for spiritual truth, The Forgotten Teachers charts the evolution of life on Earth under the mentorship of six teachers: Ocean, Air, Theia (through collision with this planet, Earth was set on its tilt), Sun, Plants, and Symbionts. Ideas from the field of evolutionary biology, accompanied by watercolor illustrations, guide this factual yet mytho-poetic exploration of life. Motivated by their shared concern over the severance of science from the sacred, and humans from their place within nature, Isett and Biçen set out to write a scientific wonder story for our times—to enchant readers with the strangeness and beauty of evolutionary biology, while reintegrating us into the natural world. As Rachel Carson did in her time and as Wendell Berry has done as a poet and essayist across the years, Isett writes with precision and urgency to remind us that we participate in a story that is far larger than ourselves, and that to see ourselves more truly would be to see the many ways in which we belong to the molecules and mysteries of the living world.

Written with style and heart by Wolverton Hill and illustrated with whimsical art by Laura Carlin, this love letter to Edward Lear brings him wonderfully to life for young readers. Edward Lear popularized the limerick as we know it and invented the modern literary genre of nonsense, made famous by Lewis Carroll. But did you know that as a teenager, he was a natural history artist on par with John J. Audubon? He has a memorial in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, placing him among the UK’s most important authors. Yet even still, Lear seems underappreciated. This picture-book biography will change all of that. Not only does it tell of what Lear did, it also shows who he was by conflating the naturalistic and nonsense, as Lear himself did, and by daring to be both fanciful and playful, for the facts of a life alone can never give you the full picture of a person. Lear liked children and children liked Lear, for they shared an innate sense of play and silliness, as well as a tolerance for the absurd and unusual. As Lear understood so well, it’s not just fun to be silly, but a sense of play is foundational to a resilient life. And of course, nonsense as practiced by Lear was a sharp weapon of satire against rigid Victorian conformity. Whether in his keenly observed work as a natural history painter or in his nonsense verse, Lear animated the world through a deep sense of empathy, and it is in this way that author and illustrator Hill and Carlin deliver Lear to us. Rich backmatter includes some Lear poems and paintings, a chronology, and notes from the author and illustrator.

From celebrated illustrator Giselle Potter, a beautiful and memorable story about the special bond between a grandparent and a grandchild. Whenever I visit my grandmother Alice, we love sitting together and telling each other stories. My favorite part is when she takes out her box of special things and we pass them back and forth. Each object—a doll, a sketchbook, shells and stones, and more—is a clue to a bigger story: the story of her life before she was my grandmother. Before she was my grandmother, she too was a young girl, with a life very different from my own. Little by little, the stories she tells and the objects she shares from her memory box reveal the many facets of her life, along with her great spirit, with its many colors and tones. Written and illustrated by the award-winning picture book maker Giselle Potter, Before She Was My Grandmother celebrates strong and loving family connections, as well as the little moments and mementos of childhood that we carry with us all our lives—and pass on to the next generation. It’s also a touching reminder of how every life is so much richer and more multifaceted than any single identity or role.

Follow along on Sato the Rabbit’s wondrous adventures with light, in this fourth installment of the popular series from Japan! Every morning, Sato the Rabbit opens his eyes to the soft light of day, ready to embrace all that the universe has in store for him. One day, the bright morning light that peeks out from his curtains becomes a bar that transports him to a forest, where he gathers dappled sunlight into a warm fire and sets the night dew aglow. Another day, Sato wakes up to find his room transformed into a lighthouse floating on the big, wide ocean, where he scoops up the light that comes through the colorful glass windows to create a special signal that ushers in fish and seabirds bearing wonderful treats. The fourth in the Sato the Rabbit series, this is a charming picture book for all those who imagine and play and dream, who find magic in the everyday, and who open themselves up to wonder.

Eye-catching, informative, and offering hours of fun, On the Move is the perfect nonfiction book about motion in all its forms from a pair of Ukraine’s leading contemporary artists. When was the first shoe invented? What's the longest distance an animal has ever traveled? How does time travel work? All these questions—and more!—are answered in On the Move, a dazzling illustrated book that explores movement through a variety of lenses, from geography to anthropology, tourism, adventuring, physics, and everything in between. Perfect for children and parents, teachers and librarians, and anyone curious to learn about the way things work, On the Moveis brimming with fascinating facts and thought-provoking reflections about how people, animals, and the elements move around, both throughout history and to this day. It's also an excellent book for artists and designers who are interested in composition and the spatial arrangement of information—with bold graphic design and vivid Pantone colors that burst off the page!

It starts with a whisper in your ear. A prickly feeling that something isn’t quite right. And it builds until a sneaky, possessive thought wriggles into your mind, and an insidious want burrows into your heart. Before you know it, you’re discontent, convinced that you’re owed more than what you’ve got. This is the work of the Wanting Monster. One day, the Wanting Monster arrives in a small village, but no one notices him, despite his antics. Feeling snubbed, he starts sowing discontent and envy of one’s neighbor. So infectious is the wanting and greed awakened by the Wanting Monster that even the stars are plucked, one by one, from the sky. Covetousness and distrust reign. Will the village people ever return to their senses? Will they ever learn that it’s the monster of wanting that’s been poisoning their minds? The Wanting Monster almost triumphs . . . fortunately, he is finally seen for what he is, and this recognition unleashes the purifying force of collective lamentation and a coming together to reroot and rebuild.

The growth of a tree and of a child parallel each other in this exquisitely constructed die-cut picture book about our nestedness in the natural worldI am a seed. I grow bigger and bigger each day. I’m starting to become who I am. So begins this story, which is also how a child’s life begins… and so too does a tree’s. With an affirming, poetic text and gorgeous, delicate art as revealed through die-cuts on almost every spread, I’m Like a Tree and a Tree’s Like Me is a beautiful picture book about how we begin, how we grow, how we’re nourished, and how we live. By drawing parallels between a growing child and a growing tree, author Sylvaine Jaoui and illustrator Anne Crahay remind us of the myriad ways that humans and plants are connected as living beings.

From Gianni Rodari, the father of modern Italian children’s literature, comes a pithy, humorous tale about life and death, health and wealth . . . and bandits and balloons! A refreshed translation from Batchelder Award–winner Antony Shugaar, illustrated with all-new art from Roman Muradov “Gianni Rodari gave free rein to his imagination, with inspired panache and gleeful lightness. At the same time, he had a precise and meticulous love for detail, for rich and exact language, and so all of his inventions are set in a very concrete world with real form and action.” —Italo Calvino Baron Lamberto is very old, very rich, and very sick. He lives in a villa on a private island in the middle of Lake Orta, tended to by his trusty butler, Anselmo, who keeps track of the baron’s 24 maladies, 24 banks, and endless eccentricities. After a mysterious trip to Egypt, the baron hires six people to take up residence in the attic of his villa. Their only task? To repeat his name, “Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto,” throughout the day. Why? It’s anyone’s guess, but—wonder of wonders—Baron Lamberto does appear to be getting better and better, little by little, day by day. But trouble looms when Lamberto’s nefarious nephew Ottavio enters the scene, scheming up a way to get his hands on the baron’s fortune. And things go from bad to worse when a band of 24 bandits (all named Lamberto, too, by the way) lays siege to the baron’s villa and attempt to hold him for ransom. In typical Rodarian fashion, Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto is a thoroughly enjoyable, deeply thought-provoking read. While it playfully skewers the absurdities of the rich, the bureaucracy, the media, and more, it also encourages readers to liberate their imaginations, to expect the unexpected, and to embrace the kind of possibilities that normally only happen in fairy tales.