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The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks: A Masai Tale
Beloved storyteller Verna Aardema is at her finest in this African animal tale, weaving charm and suspense with a delightfully satisfying resolution. Peering down from her treetop perch, a lonely lioness admires the noisily cheeping clan of Mother Ostrich and thinks, "I would be happy to have just one child." So she leaps down, gurum! and steals all four ostrich chicks. Accepting the lioness as their mother, the chicks follow right behind he. Mother Ostrich is frantic! As she chases after the lioness, she enlists the help of gazelle, hyena, jackal, and mongoose. But which one can help her to get her chicks back? With art by Yumi Heo that blends primitive, African, and folk styles, The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks is a captivating picture book destined to be a classic.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 9, 1996
About the author
Verna Aardema
55 books36 followersA prolific American children's author and teacher, Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen - more commonly known as Verna Aardema - was born in 1911 in New Era, Michigan. She was educated at Michigan State University, and taught grade school from 1934-1973. She also worked as a journalist for the Muskegon Chronicle from 1951-1972. In 1960 she published her first book, the collection of stories, Tales from the Story Hat. She went on to write over thirty more books, most of them folkloric retellings. Her picture-book, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, won co-illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon a Caldecott Medal. Aardema was married twice, and died in 2000 in Fort Myers, Florida. (source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 27, 2020
A barren lioness steals a small flock of ostrich chicks, not as a snack, but with the intention of raising them, while their real mother solicits help in getting them back. I'm not really sure if there's a moral to be found here other than, in this case, trickery wins the day. I felt sorry for the lioness, and the whole enterprise left me feeling blue. (It didn't help that this library book inexplicably smells like sour milk.)
July 13, 2010
This is the story of a lonely lioness who longs for children of her own--and steals the chicks of a mother ostrich so that she can have them to herself! Of course, the mother ostrich is not standing for this and begs lots of other savanna animals to help her get her chicks back.
The illustrations are really a stand-out for me here. They are very "transportive"--giving me the sensation of being in Africa. I love that! The animals are so unusual looking, and so expressive. Great!
The story itself is told pleasantly, and would be good for read-aloud with all the animal sounds like the lioness purring "irtil-irtil-irtil" or the gazelle bounding away, "yir-id-de" But, I couldn't help but feel very bad for the mother lioness in the end. Of course, I was rooting for mother ostrich to get her babies back--and shame on the lioness for taking them in the first place!--but I still felt sorry for her. That put a bit of a damper on my overall enjoyment of the tale, but it's still well worth reading.
The illustrations are really a stand-out for me here. They are very "transportive"--giving me the sensation of being in Africa. I love that! The animals are so unusual looking, and so expressive. Great!
The story itself is told pleasantly, and would be good for read-aloud with all the animal sounds like the lioness purring "irtil-irtil-irtil" or the gazelle bounding away, "yir-id-de" But, I couldn't help but feel very bad for the mother lioness in the end. Of course, I was rooting for mother ostrich to get her babies back--and shame on the lioness for taking them in the first place!--but I still felt sorry for her. That put a bit of a damper on my overall enjoyment of the tale, but it's still well worth reading.
October 22, 2018
When a lioness steals her four chicks from her, Mother Ostrich is distraught, appealing to every animal she meets for assistance, until finally the mongoose steps in to help her get her children back. Originally included in Aardema's 1969 collection,
Tales for the Third Ear
, this Masai folktale is a simple, straightforward story, with a somewhat anticlimactic ending.
Although not as involving as some of Aardema's other folktale adaptations, The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks did have some moments of humor, as when the gazelle responds to Mother Ostrich's plea by saying: "I wouldn't argue with a lioness if she said the moon was her cub." Yumi Heo's illustrations are a charming mixture of elongated animal characters and pictograph-like motifs. All in all, despite my feeling that this is not Aardema at her best, this is an enjoyable picture book, which will appeal to young folklore lovers with a taste for animal tales.
Although not as involving as some of Aardema's other folktale adaptations, The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks did have some moments of humor, as when the gazelle responds to Mother Ostrich's plea by saying: "I wouldn't argue with a lioness if she said the moon was her cub." Yumi Heo's illustrations are a charming mixture of elongated animal characters and pictograph-like motifs. All in all, despite my feeling that this is not Aardema at her best, this is an enjoyable picture book, which will appeal to young folklore lovers with a taste for animal tales.
December 26, 2024
بله اینها همگی نشانهی یک چالش تمام نشده است. (ولی خدایی تصویرسازیش عالی بود، پر جزئیات و در عین حال ساده یعنی وقتی برای بچهها بخوانی میتوانند قشنگ به تصویرها نگاه کنند و هم داستان را ببینند هم کلی اتفاقات جالب دیگر را)
May 22, 2010
"The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks" is an African folktale from the brilliant mind of Verna Aardema along with illustrations by Yumi Heo and it is about how a lonely lioness steals Mother Ostrich's chicks and how Mother Ostrich must find a way to help save her chicks from the lioness. "The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks" is a truly amazing story about a mother's love for her children that many children will enjoy for many years to come!
Verna Aardema's story about how Mother Ostrich tries to save her chicks can easily relate to many children and parents who fear separating from each other and parents will feel very comforted about how Mother Ostrich cares so much about her chicks that she was willing to put herself in danger in order to get her chicks back from the lioness. Yumi Heo's illustrations are highly creative as the background has an assortment of all different kinds of trees and animals you would find in Africa such as giraffes and various leaves cluttering the page which gives the images a sort of chaotic look. Also, Yumi Heo makes the animals look exaggerated, especially of the images of the lioness, the hyena and the jackal all having long bodies.
Parents should know that small children might be worried for the ostrich chicks as they are kidnapped by the lioness and the idea of a stranger coming up and snatching up children is rather unsettling. Also, the other animals do not bother to help Mother Ostrich in her time of need and many parents and children might be upset at how cruel the other animals may seem to Mother Ostrich. Parents should discuss to their children about the dangers of going off with strangers and how they must always be alert whenever they are by themselves.
"The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks" is a great book about the dangers of being near strangers and how it is important to be cautious at all times. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be scared about the kidnapping of the ostrich chicks.
Verna Aardema's story about how Mother Ostrich tries to save her chicks can easily relate to many children and parents who fear separating from each other and parents will feel very comforted about how Mother Ostrich cares so much about her chicks that she was willing to put herself in danger in order to get her chicks back from the lioness. Yumi Heo's illustrations are highly creative as the background has an assortment of all different kinds of trees and animals you would find in Africa such as giraffes and various leaves cluttering the page which gives the images a sort of chaotic look. Also, Yumi Heo makes the animals look exaggerated, especially of the images of the lioness, the hyena and the jackal all having long bodies.
Parents should know that small children might be worried for the ostrich chicks as they are kidnapped by the lioness and the idea of a stranger coming up and snatching up children is rather unsettling. Also, the other animals do not bother to help Mother Ostrich in her time of need and many parents and children might be upset at how cruel the other animals may seem to Mother Ostrich. Parents should discuss to their children about the dangers of going off with strangers and how they must always be alert whenever they are by themselves.
"The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks" is a great book about the dangers of being near strangers and how it is important to be cautious at all times. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be scared about the kidnapping of the ostrich chicks.
June 7, 2008
A Masai folktale about a lonely lioness who kidnaps the children of an Ostrich. I was a little turned off by the Ostrich's dependency of others to save her children. Had she plotted and fought to get them back I would have enjoyed it more. I'm not exactly sure what the lesson is supposed to be, since whoever is distracted at the time is the one who is able to take the children. It seems like it could breed paranoia in children and adults.
I did like the illustrations and the stacked images in the background that had a hieroglyphic style. It reminded me of the images I saw in the Africa room at the DIA, so well done there as it's true to the origins of the tale.
I did like the illustrations and the stacked images in the background that had a hieroglyphic style. It reminded me of the images I saw in the Africa room at the DIA, so well done there as it's true to the origins of the tale.
June 8, 2024
All I could think while reading this was "Jeez, does this lioness work for CPS?" Everyone knows they aren't her chicks and yet the other creatures are all too afraid to question her so they let it happen.
September 29, 2023
Keywords: animals, folklore, Africa
Summary: A lioness spots an ostrich with her four chicks walking. The lioness wanted a child so instead of taking just one child, she takes all four. The mother pleads for the lioness to give her back her babies, but she doesn't. The ostrich goes and finds different animals along the way while following the lioness asking for help. Do they help her or not?
Prompt: The sub-genre of folk literature of this book would be folklore because this book is a word-of-mouth story that is about animals. Also, the book tells you in the description before you read the book.
Summary: A lioness spots an ostrich with her four chicks walking. The lioness wanted a child so instead of taking just one child, she takes all four. The mother pleads for the lioness to give her back her babies, but she doesn't. The ostrich goes and finds different animals along the way while following the lioness asking for help. Do they help her or not?
Prompt: The sub-genre of folk literature of this book would be folklore because this book is a word-of-mouth story that is about animals. Also, the book tells you in the description before you read the book.
February 4, 2018
This is the retelling of a Masai tale about a lioness who wanted children of her own, so when she saw a mother ostrich with four chicks she decided to take them. The ostrich asks for help from other animals to get her babies back but it is the mongoose who comes up with a plan to save her chicks.
Nice illustrations.
Nice illustrations.
August 8, 2019
“Even the ostrich, with its long neck and sharp eyes, cannot see what will happen in the future.”
A mother ostrich and her chicks are out for a walk. A lioness decides she would like to have one of the chicks for her own child. With the ostrich is distracted, the lioness leads the chicks away. The ostrich begs for help from passing animals, but only the mongoose is willing to help.
A mother ostrich and her chicks are out for a walk. A lioness decides she would like to have one of the chicks for her own child. With the ostrich is distracted, the lioness leads the chicks away. The ostrich begs for help from passing animals, but only the mongoose is willing to help.
August 31, 2018
Odd but endearing story of a lonely lioness who adopts four ostrich chicks. Only problem is that Mama Ostrich objects! Beautiful illustrations
June 23, 2021
My 2 year old son really enjoyed this!
June 17, 2025
My two year old’s review: “not scary enough.”
February 28, 2011
This is a nice linear story. You could map out the story this way to show the struction of the story.
The story starts with a proverb, "Even the ostrich, with its long neck and sharp eyes, cannot see what will happen in the future." I would start reading this book with examining this proverb and what it means. Then students can make prediction based on a picture walk and the proverb. After reading the story we can revisit the proverb. I might make text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connections. Example: "Are there times when unexpected things happen in your life, were you could not see the future?"
The story starts with a proverb, "Even the ostrich, with its long neck and sharp eyes, cannot see what will happen in the future." I would start reading this book with examining this proverb and what it means. Then students can make prediction based on a picture walk and the proverb. After reading the story we can revisit the proverb. I might make text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connections. Example: "Are there times when unexpected things happen in your life, were you could not see the future?"
July 30, 2011
This was the book that The Whirl Girl chose to read the most frequently for our Kenya month. I liked that it included less traditional animals (mongoose, hyena, jackal, gazelle) and it had fun language to read with phonetic sounds for animal movements. The Whirl Girl is into any story about a mama searching for and finding her babies, so this one grabbed her attention. It had just the right amount of suspense for a kid her age. The unique illustrations felt foreign, yet familiar.
March 5, 2015
An ostrich mother has 4 baby chicks who are following her around. As a lonely lioness mother watches on, she wants to have a baby of her own. The lioness takes the 4 baby chicks from the mother to have as her own. The frantic ostrich mother enlists the help of many other animals, only one of which will help. By tricking the lioness, the ostrich mother can finally get her chicks back. A beautifully illustrated book that students will love to hear.
October 21, 2011
Poor lonely lioness. I wonder what happened that she has no pride to be a part of?
And poor mother ostrich. Her chicks forgot her so quickly. Maybe she was a mean mother and the lioness was nicer.
These animals don't behave very realistically.
And poor mother ostrich. Her chicks forgot her so quickly. Maybe she was a mean mother and the lioness was nicer.
These animals don't behave very realistically.
February 10, 2015
This is a lovely book which is a Masai folktale. Pair this book with 14 Cows for America.Interesting and engaging illustrations with animal noises. Discuss qualities of a mother, enlisting the help of others.
February 22, 2013
This book was entertaining. We had it read at our practicum by our teacher and it was fun to listen to the repetitiveness of the kids reading along. The pictures were good and I liked the colors.
March 18, 2014
This one must have been a favorite as my children requested (and I did) read it at least 3x a day for two weeks.
November 12, 2015
Alissa kept saying "She doesn't have to take all 4 chicks!"
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews