Pink Lion by Jane Porter (Walker Books)

Here's a rather neat little modern fable, introducing a very different lion indeed...!
You know that feeling when you read a story that instantly works so well that you're absolutely convinced you've read it before?

That was definitely the case with Jane Porter's "Pink Lion", which introduces Arnold.

Yes, Arnold is indeed a Lion but as he was raised by Flamingos (and probably spent his formative years eating an awful lot of pink jelly and pink shrimps - I could say the same though the only shrimps I ate were those foam ones you used to get in 10p mixed bags), Arnold is just part of the family.

Until, that is, a fateful day when a mysterious stranger turns up at the watering hole. He does look a lot like Arnold, but he's definitely not pink...

A turning point in young Arnold's life. But will he turn his back on his Flamingo family?

Poor Arnold really doesn't know what to do - but obviously he must be true to his roots. With a heavy heart he returns to his Flamingo family, but with the other lions still on his mind.

It takes a moment of mild peril to show Arnold what really matters though, and it doesn't matter who your family are or what they look like, you know when to do the right thing by them.

Its true this book did remind us a little bit of "Pink!" by Lynne Rickards and Margaret Chamberlain at first, but it establishes a firm and engaging story of its own too.

Charlotte's best bit: Arnold to the rescue!

Daddy's favourite bit: Feels like an instant classic in the making, a lovely moral tale with a feelgood end.

(Kindly supplied for review)

"Pink Lion" by Jane Porter is out now, published by Walker Books.