Eli

by Bill Peet

A proud but decrepit lion learns a lesson about friendship from the vultures he despises.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Friendship, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade

40 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 1984

About the author

Bill Peet was an American children's book illustrator and a story writer for Disney Studios. He joined Disney in 1937 and worked on The Jungle Book, Song of the South, Cinderella, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, Goliath II, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Three Caballeros, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and other stories.

After successes developing short stories for Disney, Peet had his first book published, Hubert's Hair Raising Adventure.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's an old review I had from last year with the Nephew.

Eli is an old cranky lion. He doesn’t like to fuss and when the lions are feeding he lets them eat and he eats last with the buzzards. One day he saves an old buzzard from being eaten herself and the buzzards become his groupie. It annoys him. He can’t go anywhere without them following. He insults them and they take off, but they are still loyal to him. One day some men are hunting Eli and the buzzards warn him. They come up with a great plan and are able to fool the hunters and save Eli. It’s a great bit of fun to see.

Sometimes the things that annoy us are just what we need, I suppose. The artwork is top notch work from Bill and his lions look like Hubert from his first story.

The nephew thought this a good story. He loved the idea the buzzards came up with and he chuckled about the names that Eli called them to go away. He said this was an okay story for about 3 stars, maybe 2 he said.

[GRReviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a three-or-four-year-old I decided to change my middle name to Eli because of this book. On the copy at my parents' house, you can see that I wrote, in crayon, "David" to the left of the title and "Low" to the right of it. I'm still not very nice to vultures, though.

[Jaime Grande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eli is a great lion who makes some unusual friends.

[Scott Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old lion Eli thinks little of the Vera the vulture whom he rescued from a jackal. He thinks even less of her grateful friends. Fed up with their fondness, he shoos them off with insults. Enter the hunting Zoobangas. Will Eli accept Vera's offer of help? Will the help be enough to save Eli from spears?

Simple story telling. Engaging facial expressions on this book authored and illustrated by Bill Peet.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really fun one to read. It's fun to make a screechy vulture voice and a cranky lion voice. We really had a good laugh while reading it. Connects well with our friendship unit. Good vocabulary discussions too. I feel like we should do an author study some time on Bill Peet. We've read a number of his books this year and today when I showed this one my students commented that this is probably going to be a good one since it's by Bill Peet.

[Mark Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of an aging lion that is ashamed after saving a vulture from being killed. But might that act of kindness save his life? Bill Peet's pictures are great, and the story is fun if fairly predictable.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 8 year old nephew, Jonah, is really into Bill Peet at the moment. The kid stocks up every day on more books to read. So love that. He was over for a play date and brought three for us to read. These short stories are quite fun, and I do love the illustrations.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story about a grumpy old lion who learns the value of friendship. He thinks that he is useless, and that he doesn't need others - but when he encounters a group of cultures, he finds that he is wrong on both counts.

[Rayni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Peet is a wonderful author. I loved every book of his that I could lay my hands on. He always seemed to teach a lesson w/out being preachy. This is a good one about prejudice & friendship.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book about being true to yourself and not succumbing to peer pressure.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids laugh out loud at certain parts of this book each time we read it, and I'm always glad to read it to them.

[Terryann Saint]

Simply love everything Bill Peet ever did.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice book about friendship. The Africa setting was nice, though it seemed a bit more Tarzan Africa than Maasai in Tanzania.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really clever! Love it.

[Tanya Wadley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Bill Peat children's book.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was only just introduced to Bill Peet by my third grader's teacher. I love every single book of his so far and he has a multitude!
Good for every age of reader.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't rhyme. But the lion learns about being nice and helping each other.

[Spenser White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never met a Bill Peet book I didn't like! Yes, some are better than others, but this is a middle one. The story is so good! It helps to teach being no respecter of persons. I love it!

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A proud but decrepit lion learns a lesson about friendship from the vultures he despises.
Subject:
Lion -- Juvenile fiction.
Vultures -- Juvenile fiction.
Friendship -- Juvenile fiction

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Bill Peet books, and it still holds up even today!

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lion's friends save him by pretending to devour him. Clever.

[Tiffany Lynn Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and sweet tale about friendship.

[Saralyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way the vultures save Eli. Talk about thinking outside of the box. Very cute. Very Bill Peet. Loved it.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great friendship read aloud for third graders.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun little story and I love the illustrations.

[Sandra Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Children book, have read over and over, I never tire of the wonderful pictures and realistically humerus story lines and surprise ending.