A Heart of Gold: Christian the Lion by Anthony Burke and John Rendall

Hello again, everyone!  It's Wednesday...midway point through another week....and that much closer to Christmas...EEP!  Hope everyone has their holiday shopping well under way for whichever holiday you celebrate!  It can get a little crazy out there as the big day approaches....anywho, on with the show.  Today's book of choice is....

Christian the Lion

Based on the best-selling true story!

By Anthony (Ace) Bourke and John Rendall

This is a delightful tale based on the true story of a young lion cub, the two men that took him in and the loving bond that built between them all. If you wanted to buy a lion cub, where do you suppose you’d go? Africa….Asia…how about a giant store in the heart of London by the name of Harrods? Yup…after being born in a zoo, young Christian was shipped off to a department store of all places.  Luckily for him, two great people came into his life that were more than ready to accept him into there lives....little did they know the challenges that would present themselves through the coming years.  You see, as cute and little as Christian started out....he stayed cute, but not so little.  Grant it he was raised around people and loved greatly so he didn't present any discipline issues, but John and Ace had to admit that one day, their home may not be the best place for him any longer.  Tag along on this interesting journey and discover that friendship comes in all shapes and sizes.

The edition of the book that I received for review is the children's version.  It presents as a picture book but is displayed as if if it were a scrapbook of memories.  Perhaps the later is actually more accurate as Christian narrates the story himself through the captions and pictures....it's really quite endearing.  You get to watch him change and grow, experience new places and people.  The ending was rather a surprise as well...SMALL SPOILER....as he is released into the wilds of Kenya....SPOILER OVER.  The final entry is a letter from John and Ace about their latest visit with Christian....which I will say nothing more about because it will spoil the story!  (Trust me, it's really sweet...)

Special thanks to Henry Holt and Company for the review copy!

Until next time....happy holidays and happy reading!