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Jim's Lion

Author Russell Hoban

Illustrated by Alexis Deacon

Hardcover

$15.99 US

Candlewick

6.25"W x 9.25"H x 0.5"D | 13 oz | 30 per carton

On sale Nov 11, 2014 | 64 Pages | 9780763665173

Age 6-9 years

Reading Level: Lexile 490L

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Russell Hoban’s moving, unflinching tale of a boy who finds bravery during illness is reimagined in graphic-novel format with art by Alexis Deacon.

Asleep in his hospital bed, Jim dreams of a great lion with white teeth and amber eyes. This lion is Jim’s finder. According to Nurse Bami, everyone has a finder, a creature who comes looking for us when we are lost. But when the time comes for Jim’s operation, will his lion be able to find him and bring him safely home? Dramatically reimagined as a graphic novel by award-winning illustrator Alexis Deacon, with the inclusion of powerful dream sequences, Russell Hoban’s tale of a boy’s search for strength and courage will resonate with any child dealing with adversity.

Russell Hoban (1925–2011) once described himself as “an addict to writing” and wrote more than fifty books for children, including such classics as Bedtime for Frances and How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen. With Candlewick, he was the author of The Sea-Thing Child, illustrated by Patrick Benson, Soonchild, also illustrated by Alexis Deacon, and Rosie’s Magic Horse, illustrated by Quentin Blake.

Alexis Deacon created the acclaimed picture books Slow Loris, While You Were Sleeping, and Beegu, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year. He is also the illustrator of Russell Hoban’s Soonchild. Alexis Deacon lives in London.

Russell Hoban View titles by Russell Hoban

Alexis Deacon View titles by Alexis Deacon

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• Saint Martin

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• Seychelles

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• Singapore

• Sint Maarten

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Somalia

• South Africa

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• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• St Barthelemy

• St. Helena

• St. Lucia

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• St.Chr.,Nevis

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• Sth Terr. Franc

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Svalbard

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• Tanzania

• Thailand

• Timor-Leste

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In watercolors simultaneously delicate and taut with emotion, Deacon imagines Jim and his lion fighting his sickness. Small panels capture with marvelous powers of invention the hallucinatory nature of sickness. Dreamlike worlds of death threaten to engulf Jim, are beaten back, then gather strength and attack again. Deacon’s images enhance but do not overwhelm Hoban’s story, which holds its own potent magic. Nurse Bami tells Jim how he’ll know he’s found his finder: “The real thing is always more than you’re ready for,” she says. This is the real thing.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Dramatic... Wordless dream (or more accurately, nightmare) sequences presented in panels make up more than half the pages, expanding the vision and intensifying the impact of Hoban's words. ... The spare, low-key telling heightens the paintings' emotional heft. ... This ... inventive work is most likely to be appreciated for its artistic vision.
—Kirkus Reviews

This is a spare allegory, and Deacon’s illustrations complement and extend the brief text. ... The art highlights the feverish terror of Jim’s dreams... Sophisticated art... The unique story and remarkable art warrant this a place in library collections.
—School Library Journal

The intensity of the imagery calls to mind the respect afforded to children’s emotional capacities found in Shaun Tan’s “The Red Tree." ... Just what the doctor ordered for children with vivid imaginations facing their own traumatic ordeals.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Compelling and disquieting, Deacon’s artwork, a dazzling emotional tour de force, takes this old story to exciting new levels.
—Jules Danielson, Kirkus Reviews

Breathtaking... The book is a lovely blurring of what is dream, what is reality, as Jim finds courage to free himself from his fears. ... Inspiring.
—The Buffalo News

The deftly illustrated watercolor paintings support the delicate tone of the text.
—Library Media Connection

About

Creators

Russell Hoban View titles by Russell Hoban

Alexis Deacon View titles by Alexis Deacon

Available for sale exclusive:

• Afghanistan

• Aland Islands

• Albania

• Algeria

• Andorra

• Angola

• Anguilla

• Antarctica

• Antigua/Barbuda

• Argentina

• Armenia

• Aruba

• Austria

• Azerbaijan

• Bahamas

• Bahrain

• Bangladesh

• Barbados

• Belarus

• Belgium

• Belize

• Benin

• Bermuda

• Bhutan

• Bolivia

• Bonaire, Saba

• Bosnia Herzeg.

• Botswana

• Bouvet Island

• Brazil

• Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter

• Brit.Virgin Is.

• Brunei

• Bulgaria

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Cameroon

• Canada

• Cape Verde

• Cayman Islands

• Centr.Afr.Rep.

• Chad

• Chile

• China

• Christmas Islnd

• Cocos Islands

• Colombia

• Comoro Is.

• Congo

• Cook Islands

• Costa Rica

• Croatia

• Curacao

• Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Dem. Rep. Congo

• Denmark

• Djibouti

• Dominica

• Dominican Rep.

• Ecuador

• Egypt

• El Salvador

• Equatorial Gui.

• Eritrea

• Estonia

• Ethiopia

• Falkland Islnds

• Faroe Islands

• Fiji

• Finland

• France

• Fren.Polynesia

• French Guinea

• Gabon

• Gambia

• Georgia

• Germany

• Ghana

• Gibraltar

• Greece

• Greenland

• Grenada

• Guadeloupe

• Guam

• Guatemala

• Guernsey

• Guinea Republic

• Guinea-Bissau

• Guyana

• Haiti

• Heard/McDon.Isl

• Honduras

• Hong Kong

• Hungary

• Iceland

• India

• Indonesia

• Iraq

• Isle of Man

• Israel

• Italy

• Ivory Coast

• Jamaica

• Japan

• Jersey

• Jordan

• Kazakhstan

• Kenya

• Kiribati

• Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan

• Laos

• Latvia

• Lebanon

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Libya

• Liechtenstein

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• Macau

• Macedonia

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Malaysia

• Maldives

• Mali

• Malta

• Marshall island

• Martinique

• Mauritania

• Mauritius

• Mayotte

• Mexico

• Micronesia

• Minor Outl.Ins.

• Moldavia

• Monaco

• Mongolia

• Montenegro

• Montserrat

• Morocco

• Mozambique

• Myanmar

• Namibia

• Nauru

• Nepal

• Netherlands

• New Caledonia

• Nicaragua

• Niger

• Nigeria

• Niue

• Norfolk Island

• North Mariana

• Norway

• Oman

• Pakistan

• Palau

• Palestinian Ter

• Panama

• PapuaNewGuinea

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Philippines

• Pitcairn Islnds

• Poland

• Portugal

• Puerto Rico

• Qatar

• Reunion Island

• Romania

• Russian Fed.

• Rwanda

• S. Sandwich Ins

• Saint Martin

• Samoa,American

• San Marino

• SaoTome Princip

• Saudi Arabia

• Senegal

• Serbia

• Seychelles

• Sierra Leone

• Singapore

• Sint Maarten

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Somalia

• South Africa

• South Korea

• South Sudan

• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• St Barthelemy

• St. Helena

• St. Lucia

• St. Vincent

• St.Chr.,Nevis

• St.Pier,Miquel.

• Sth Terr. Franc

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Svalbard

• Swaziland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Syria

• Tadschikistan

• Taiwan

• Tanzania

• Thailand

• Timor-Leste

• Togo

• Tokelau Islands

• Tonga

• Trinidad,Tobago

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• Turkmenistan

• Turks&Caicos Is

• Tuvalu

• US Virgin Is.

• USA

• Uganda

• Ukraine

• Unit.Arab Emir.

• Uruguay

• Uzbekistan

• Vanuatu

• Vatican City

• Venezuela

• Vietnam

• Wallis,Futuna

• West Saharan

• Western Samoa

• Yemen

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

Not available for sale:

• Australia

• Cuba

• Iran

• Ireland

• New Zealand

• North Korea

• United Kingdom

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