Oscar’s Lion

Adam Baron's Oscar’s Lion is a funny, gently magical story for 7 year olds about a boy who wakes up to find a lion sitting on his parents' bed.

What happens

It's a Friday morning and Oscar's mum and dad have gone. In their place is a huge lion with a shaggy black mane, looking a little embarrassed. He says he's quite full, and promises he won't need to eat for two whole days. (Hmm.)

Then he puts on Dad's reading glasses and reads Oscar's favourite book to him five times in a row, with voices!

From there the lion does the looking-after. He walks Oscar to school disguised as a stag beetle. He lets him have four chocolate biscuits, ice cream with no vegetables and a den that takes up half the living room. He even sorts out Carlton, the boy who was horrible to Oscar at a birthday party, just by smiling at him with all his teeth.

Oscar soon learns the lion can turn into other animals too, and starts working out which seagull or goldfinch might really be his lion. Who wouldn't want a babysitter like that?

It moves along briskly, with lots of little jokes (the lion calls cornflakes toenail clippings). It's sweetly sad in places too. Oscar's granny died six months before the story starts, and he keeps remembering the birds she taught him to spot.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The opening leaves Oscar wondering whether the lion has eaten his parents, and the lion's answers don't exactly rule it out. It's played for laughs and nothing is ever shown. But a sensitive reader might worry about Oscar's mum and dad until they've caught on to the joke. The party where Carlton and his friends pick on Oscar is quite upsetting too.

If your reader has ever wished the grown-ups would let them have the fun stuff for once, they'll probably love Oscar's weekend.

What to read next

For another very unusual grown-up in charge, try Nanny Piggins and the Runaway Lion. Nanny Piggins is a flying pig who looks after three children, and she's far more interested in chocolate and adventures than bedtimes.