Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/15/2023 This charming book about courage and caring stars a little girl accompanied by an enormous lion, whose very presence gives her strength to do hard things—that is, until the lion himself becomes a scaredy-cat. The lion helps the girl face up to nerve-racking situations like apologizing for drawing all over the bookshelves with her crayons. Exuberant watercolor-pencil-and-ink illustrations mirror the lion’s wild gold-and-red mane with the girl’s black hair and comically show the duo’s closeness through details like having the scrunched-up lion ride on the back of the girl’s bike. When the pair visit a new, “rocket-fast” slide at the playground, three double-page spreads, each showing parts of the slide's steep ladder, are devoted to the terror the girl feels while climbing up. At the top, she realizes her lion is actually afraid, too, and decides to be brave for her lion. Hand in paw, together they jubilantly conquer the slide, over and over. Fun and relatable. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.