I'm sitting in the time-out chair because my mother put me there. She said, "You try my patience, child! I do not like it when you're wild." Wild? Who me? That is so absurd. How could she even use that word? If I were a lion. I'd growl and roar And knock the dishes on the floor... AND if I were a bear... If I Were a Lion is a book for every child who's ever been sent to the time-out chair -- unjustly...or otherwise! How could such a sweet little red-haired girl's mother accuse her of being wild? Worse still, how could she possibly make her sit in the time-out chair ? That's precisely what this little girl wonders as she sits in the chair and lets her imagination (but not her manners, no way!) run wild: "If I were a lion,/ I'd growl and roar/ and knock the dishes/ on the floor./ I'd scare the hair/ right off the cat,/ but do you see me doing that?" Heather M. Solomon, also the illustrator of Clever Beatrice , captures the wildness in the little girl's mind in fantastic watercolor and gouache paintings. In the "growl and roar" spread, a ferocious lion is standing on two legs, open-jawed, in the ultra-artsy kitchen, breaking the dishes as the little girl looks on, wide-eyed and innocent. "Wild has feathers./ Wild has scales./ Wild has whiskers, tusks, and tails," she insists, surrounded by a made-up menagerie of owls, parrots, toucans, Old World chameleons, horned toads, snakes, walruses, seals, and fish in a bucket. We all know she protests too much: the title page reveals exhibit A--a childlike lion picture scrawled on the wall and a knocked-over cereal box. (Preschool to age 6) --Karin Snelson PreSchool-Grade 1-When a young girl is sent to a time-out chair, she defends herself by asking, "Wild?/Who me?" With wide-eyed innocence, she proclaims: "Wild has feathers./Wild has scales./Wild has whiskers, tusks, and tails./Wild is furry./Wild is strong./Wild does not know/right from wrong." As she describes each characteristic, unruly animals take over the kitchen and living room-snorting, charging, and growling as they break dishes, overturn furniture, and create messes. The narrator seems to be surprised by their antics, but the gleam in her eye makes it obvious that she's not as innocent as she appears. So who created the havoc-the animals or this "meek and mild" child? Sharp-eyed readers will enjoy spotting the toys being blamed for the disasters; the endpapers, with numerous stuffed animals strewn haphazardly across them, provide another clue. Solomon adds to the humor by giving the youngster oversized features that make her appear cartoonlike, but with a painterly touch just shy of realistic. Splashes of salt resist on each page form a soft patterned background for the carpeting. An interesting combination of gouache brush strokes scattered over watercolor washes captures the texture of fur and feathers. Pair this book with Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (HarperCollins, 1988) for another protagonist whose imagination runs rampant when he's confined, and to create a storytime that will grab the attention of children who have been placed in a time-out. -Laurie Edwards, West Shore School District, Camp Hill, PA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. PreS-Gr. 1. Banished to a corner for "wild" behavior, a toddler launches a spirited self-defense by imagining truly wild beasts (inspired by her collection of animal toys) running rampant through her living room--and comparing herself favorably to them. Weeks' verses are clever ("Wild's ferocious. Wild will bite. I'm precocious and polite"), but the girl's sophisticated voice doesn't jibe with her apparent age, and it must be said that a punishment leading to fanciful encounters with wild things is a premise that has been used before. Solomon's watercolor-and-gouache art, though, is a showstopper. In a brighter, freer style than that of her debut, Clever Beatrice (2001), she renders the animals with meticulous precision and ratchets up the sense of chaos with dizzying perspectives, elements breaching the boundaries of frames, and eye-teasing patches of collage. The protagonist's gnomish figure doesn't have instant appeal, but the hints of wildness that belie her prim words (walls adorned with crayon scribbles, scattered stuffed animals) will resonate with occasionally beastly kids as well as their parents. Jennifer Mattson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Sarah Weeks's rambunctious angel in "If I Were a Lion" will have readers roaring with laughter. Parents should love reading it too, as it's bound to evoke memories of their own childhood antics. Heather Solomon's wonderfully textured creatures make you want to touch each one of them." -- Betsy Lewin, Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator of "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type" Sarah Weeks has written many books for children, including If I Were a Lion, Paper Parade, Angel Face, So B. It , a