We somehow managed to miss Helen Stephens' previous two "How to Hide a Lion" books. Iris successfully managed to hide her big roaring buddy from Mum, and at her Grandmas but school? That's an entirely different matter.
In "How to Hide a Lion at School" Iris hates having to leave Lion at home, and Lion hates being left at home - often sneaking off to follow Iris into class.
But Iris's teacher has eyes in the back of her head (have you ever tried to explain that expression to a child? It's quite fun actually!) and no matter how well Lion hides, the teacher always spots him and sends him packing with a few stern words.
Iris and her class are off on a school trip to an awesome museum, and Lion just can't resist tagging along. With some truly imaginative disguises and hiding techniques, Lion manages to tag along for most of the way undiscovered but once again Teacher spots him and chaos ensues.
But later, there's a moment of peril when the class end up stranded. Is it time for Lion to ride to the rescue?
Everything about this book squeals "Fun!!" and we really loved it to bits. Helen's sense of humour is glorious, and the book truly feels like the awesome sort of nonsense story that I lapped up as a kid. We both really loved her characterisations and her little artistic touches in the illustrations (Mums wearing slings = AWESOME!).
It's going to be a read-aloud classic, no doubt about it, and we can't wait to see what you all think of it once you get your mitts on it. Which you should go out and do RIGHT NOW!
Charlotte's best bit: Lion to the rescue and Lion also makes a rather fun beach companion!
Daddy's favourite bit: The sort of children's picture book that is destined to become a firm favourite for read-aloud fun. Helen is hugely talented and this is such a gloriously silly but sublime book, truly wonderful in fact!
(Kindly sent to us for review by Scholastic)
"How to Hide a Lion at School"
Written and Illustrated by Helen Stephens
Published by Scholastic
Publication Date: 1st September 2016