Lion at School and Other Stories

by Philippa Pearce, Caroline Sharpe (Illustrator)

A collection of nine stories about animals, including a lion who goes to school, a lonely horse in search of adventure, and a mouse trying to avoid a mousetrap.

122 pages, Library Binding

First published August 30, 1973

About the author

Philippa Pearce was an acclaimed English author of children’s literature, best remembered for her classic time-slip novel Tom’s Midnight Garden, which won the 1958 Carnegie Medal and remains a staple of British children’s fiction. Raised in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, in the Mill House by the River Cam, Pearce drew lifelong inspiration from her rural upbringing. Educated at the Perse School for Girls and Girton College, Cambridge, she studied English and History before working as a civil servant and later producing schools’ radio programmes for the BBC.
Her debut, Minnow on the Say (1955), inspired by local landscapes and a childhood canoe trip, was a Carnegie runner-up and later adapted for television. Tom’s Midnight Garden, also rooted in her childhood environment, became her most celebrated work, inspiring multiple adaptations for stage, screen, and television. Pearce went on to publish over thirty books, including A Dog So Small, The Squirrel Wife, The Battle of Bubble and Squeak, and The Way to Sattin Shore, with several earning further Carnegie commendations.
Married briefly to Martin Christie, with whom she had a daughter, Pearce returned to Great Shelford in 1973, where she lived until her death in 2006. Her legacy continues through the annual Philippa Pearce Lecture, celebrating excellence in children’s literature.

Reviews

[Ruth Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nostalgia vote really. I've read these stories to so many young children over the years and if you do it right, you hold them spellbound and I love that. Philippa was a really great children's author. The stories can seem 'gentle' by comparison with a lot of contemporary fiction for children this age but that can be a refreshing change. The themes are timeless and the child is right at the heart of the story - the way the stories work out are very satisfying. Really lovely, thoughtful stories to read to a class of 6-7 year olds at the end of a school day.

[Rita Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book helps children to understand through the light hearted humour, that treating others wrongly always comes back to 'bite' you. The lion frightens the school bully. It's a nice bed time story, which helps them to learn right from wrong!

[Doodles McC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked as a young child. A collection of gentle children's stories. Well written and enjoyable. Read to my own children.