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Summary
Summary
What if a dandelion became a real lion ? With enchanting, ethereal art, this wordless story shares a world where reality can be transfigured by imagination.
In a meadow filled with dandelion buds just about to flower, one dandelion blooms into a real lion . Roots and leaves unfurl into four tiny paws and a long tail with a fluffy yellow tuft. What a great, wide world there is to explore when you have paws instead of roots: there are fast trains to ride, regal ships to sail, and cities with lights as bright as Dandelion's field in full bloom. But will a real lion ever be content to go back to being a rooted dandelion? Yoko Tanaka's exquisite illustrations take us on an adventure where even the smallest seeds contain cosmic dreams.
Author Notes
Yoko Tanaka has illustrated novels, including The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo, and picture books, including Princessland by Emily Jenkins and Sparrow Girl by Sara Pennypacker. Yoko Tanaka lives in London.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1--A tiny lion materializes in a dandelion patch in this wordless picture book with dreamy and gently fantastical appeal. The dandy lion whisks off from the field and onto a train. Serendipitously finding itself thrust in one adventure after the next, the tiny lion experiences kindness from unexpected places, dodges terrifying situations among the hustle and bustle of a city, and finds joy piloting a child's toy airplane in a park. Eventually, it floats into a meadow in the countryside and becomes a dandelion puff. Vibrant yellow, colored digitally, creates a striking contrast to the dreamlike landscapes rendered in charcoal. The landscapes and objects are perfectly shaded in charcoal grays and blacks, giving readers just enough detail to identify where the lion has landed. The yellow mane of the lion is reminiscent of a dandelion and acts as a frame of focus for the lion's face, which conveys the changing moods and tone of the story. VERDICT A clever and beautifully rendered wordless tale that will captivate young readers as they float along with dandelions in the circle of life.--Mindy Hiatt, Salt Lake County Library Services
Publisher's Weekly Review
This wordless fantasy unfolds at night, and its matte black pages contrast dramatically with stylized, crisp-edged artwork and wispy puffs of light that Tanaka (Sparrow Girl) creates in white and yellow. Over a single page turn, a dandelion in full bloom dreams it has become a miniature lion, its shining petals transforming into the lion's mane. The lion faces readers with an antic smile and does a little dance step, delighted with its new form. It dashes joyously out into the world, drinking up new experiences: a train ride, a journey on a sheep and a sailing ship, a jarring arrival in a big city, which is improved by a trip to a movie theater (a piece of popcorn donated by a friendly girl is almost as big as the lion, who sits dwarfed by the seat). The final sequence of return to the dandelion field vaults into silent visual play that's sudden and joyous. Set free from the rules of the physical universe, Tanaka's solo debut plays with images and forms suggested by the natural world as the dandelion's dream comes to an end in this short, ethereal journey. Ages 3--7. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Feb.)
Horn Book Review
In the darkness, in a field dotted with fully blooming yellow dandelions and white ones that have gone to seed, a tight bud of a dandelion stands upright. In the next spread, the dandelion has popped open, with an exuberantly bright yellow color compared with the others. The following spread shows the flower now a joyful lion, arms outspread and face looking thrilled -- the yellow petals form a mane, and a golden tip of a tail. The wordless story continues with the dandelion running toward and riding on a train, then on the back of a sheep. Tanaka moves the story along and adds depth to particular moments through comics-style panels alternating with expansive full-page illustrations and double-page spreads. After a series of adventures, including a trip to the big city (where our protagonist takes in a movie complete with popcorn), the dandelion returns home to its field, now dotted with mostly white dandelions. For two spreads, our dandelion is seen from the back, making the exact moment of transformation from flower to seed difficult to pinpoint, but its head becomes snowy white, echoed in the night sky by the moon. After a page-turn, its seeds fly up into the sky, where they form the shape of a lion. Tanaka sticks with limited colors, using charcoal to create dark, soft spaces, and a digital yellow that conveys the vibrancy of a short, memorable life. Children often particularly enjoy dandelions in both forms, and this circle-of-life story will resonate with them. Susan Dove Lempke July/August 2020 p.126(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this wordless picture book, a dandelion becomes a dandy lion before he goes to seed.To call this book original is an understatement. Tanaka literally translates a common mispronunciation of "dandelion" into a series of pictures whose adventures unfold as in a dream. The lemon-yellow petals surrounding a comical, toothless, wide-eyed lion face glow against detailed backgrounds in grainy, gradated grays, whites, and blacks. The plant-cum-lion gazes wonderingly at the transformation of leaves into soft, clawless paws before it ventures beyond its meadow into the world beyond. As can happen in dreams, potential dangers and sorrows are thwarted by sudden changes: The threat of falling off the top of a train ends in a soft landing on the back of a sheep; when rain begins on the high seas, a bird's wing offers shelter; in a large, indifferent city, a movie theater offers respite. The paneled sequence of Dandelion inside the theater is particularly whimsical, especially when his diminutive size is contrasted with a piece of popcorn. The dream ends with realistic images of thousands of dandelion seeds sailing off into the nightand then a final image that reconnects reality and Dandelion's dream. The art produces such strong identification with Dandelion that it will encourage young listeners to verbalize as Dandelion. A subtle lesson in life cycles underlies a book that is gently humorous, engaging, and soothing.Stunning. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
