Library Lion

One of my all time favorite picture books is Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen. It is a very sweet tale of a lion that wanders into a library and quickly gains a love for story time. Being an animal lover and book lover I immediately take to these types of books and there are plenty out there. For Example…

Another all time favorite is of course Dewey. While the other books are make believe, Dewey was a real life library cat. Abandoned at birth and left for dead in a library book drop, the small town librarians took pity on the tiny kitten. He was nursed back to health and adopted by the town who in turn named him Dewey.

Oh how I wish and dream of such a thing happening in our library. While I know we couldn’t keep a kitten or really, any animal in our library I still find joy in the book.  I find joy in all the books that contain libraries and animals. They are charming and after my own heart. While I try to read a diverse selection of books to the children I find that every year I pull Library Lion off the shelf to read. Good thing the children like it also.

So that brings me full circle, back to the original intent of this post. Last Monday I walked into the library, logged into the computer, worked on my lesson plans, checked in some books, drank my coffee, checked my email. I did not go into the the other room where the book shelves are. At 8:30 2A walked in for their class. We gathered in the other room and I began to let them know what their assignment was for the day. Mid explanation I glanced up and gasped. I don’t think I finished saying whatever it was I was saying because there, on top of the bookshelves was our very own library lion. I started laughing, only slightly hysterically, while the 2nd graders became more and more perplexed, unsure if I had lost my mind. After gaining control of myself I let them in on the joke. I pointed to the top shelves and they all laughed in relief that no, Mrs. Natalie had not lost her mind after all.

So now we have our very own library lion. I am happy to say that it came from the book fair. I noticed him there. Of course I loved him and even thought how cool would it be if he were in our library. It would be just like the book. Ahaha little did I know! Thank you to whoever decided the lion needed a home in our library. He warms my heart and brightens up our stacks.

He needs a name! What should we name him?