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Red Light, Green Lion
In this clever book, a green lion is waiting at a red traffic light. While he waits, a series of unexpected events occur, involving such things as lightning, a lilac, library books and lima beans. Or rather, “li-ghtning,” “li-lac,” “li-brary books,” and “li-ma beans” because the text on each spread ends with “Red light, green li-,” and the reader must turn the page to see the whole word --- and what's happened. All the while, the lion calmly and helpfully deals with whatever shows up (even loading livestock into a lifeboat!) and wryly muses about the way life can be. “Some days are not like most days,” the lion explains at the beginning. But as all children know: those days are usually the most fun!
This charming, sometimes silly, philosophical picture book is inspired by the popular childhood game Red Light, Green Light. Candace Ryan's text is simple, and the repeated refrain allows for guessing what (green) surprise comes next, making for an engaging read-aloud. Jennifer Yerkes's illustrations have a fresh look, with a limited palette and spare, expressive lines. The collaboration of story and design --- using color and muted tones for the refrain --- keeps the concept easy to understand. Important life lessons are shared with simplicity, clarity and beauty: “Some days we get exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.” “And some days, nothing goes the way we thought it would.” This would make a delightful choice for character education lessons on kindness, teamwork and inclusiveness.
This charming, sometimes silly, philosophical picture book is inspired by the popular childhood game Red Light, Green Light. Candace Ryan's text is simple, and the repeated refrain allows for guessing what (green) surprise comes next, making for an engaging read-aloud. Jennifer Yerkes's illustrations have a fresh look, with a limited palette and spare, expressive lines. The collaboration of story and design --- using color and muted tones for the refrain --- keeps the concept easy to understand. Important life lessons are shared with simplicity, clarity and beauty: “Some days we get exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.” “And some days, nothing goes the way we thought it would.” This would make a delightful choice for character education lessons on kindness, teamwork and inclusiveness.
40 pages, Hardcover
Published May 7, 2019
About the author
Candace Ryan
8 books18 followersCandace Ryan lives and works in a Los Angeles-based toy museum curated by her 5 year-old son. She tinkers with words when she can find her pen in a pile of robots and Japanese monsters.
As head of her department, Candace is in charge of cataloging and organizing the museum’s extensive collection of owl, bat, and octopus toys. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but it sure is rewarding.
In her dwindling free time, Candace prefers splitting infinitives over splitting atoms. Clunky puns give her a splitting headache. And she wishes there was some way to share a banana split with Dr. Seuss and Rene Magritte in a Japanese tea garden.
ANIMAL HOUSE is Candace’s first picture book. Her second book, RIBBIT RABBIT, will be published in 2011 by Walker/Bloomsbury.
As head of her department, Candace is in charge of cataloging and organizing the museum’s extensive collection of owl, bat, and octopus toys. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but it sure is rewarding.
In her dwindling free time, Candace prefers splitting infinitives over splitting atoms. Clunky puns give her a splitting headache. And she wishes there was some way to share a banana split with Dr. Seuss and Rene Magritte in a Japanese tea garden.
ANIMAL HOUSE is Candace’s first picture book. Her second book, RIBBIT RABBIT, will be published in 2011 by Walker/Bloomsbury.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
November 26, 2018
This beautifully illustrated picture book is full of charm and silliness! When a lion is waiting in the rain at a red traffic light he encounters all sorts of interesting things, all beginning with "Li" sounding words, such as a library of books and livestock in a lifeboat.
The lion shows how to roll with what comes his way and he offers kindness along the way! The simple artwork throughout the story is cheery and adorable! This book would be a great addition to any preschooler's story time!
Thank you to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
This will be featured on my blog on Tuesday November 27th, 2018.
www.colecampfireblog
The lion shows how to roll with what comes his way and he offers kindness along the way! The simple artwork throughout the story is cheery and adorable! This book would be a great addition to any preschooler's story time!
Thank you to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
This will be featured on my blog on Tuesday November 27th, 2018.
www.colecampfireblog
August 27, 2019
This is going to be a great read for preschool storytimes. It has a wonderfully wry sense of humour, and the writing plays with expectations by setting kids up with a "red light, green li -" and then the next page surprising readers with different words that begin with 'li' (lima beans! library books! etc). DeLIghtful.
November 20, 2018
Childish illustrations, a message that you need that you need to search for so deep, that you're not even sure if it's there or if you just invented it and a story that is absent. Not worth it!
December 26, 2019
Thought this book was a bit too silly and there wasn’t much logic in the words that came next. I felt very confused after reading the book and probably wouldn’t take it into my class.
March 4, 2019
This book was very cute! I love the concept and the unfolding story. Very unpredictible and a great use of langauge to introduce young readers to building words from a stem. I love the relative simplicity of the illustrations and the slow additions to tell the story both in the narration and in pictures. One can only hope that the author will continue this style with other word stems and letters.
I was provided a free digital ARC copy from NetGalley for my honest and unbiased opinion.
I was provided a free digital ARC copy from NetGalley for my honest and unbiased opinion.
May 1, 2019
I loved this book. It was fun to see what was coming next and how that lion would cope with it. I loved the simplicity of the line illustrations and the use of color in them. All in all a fun, creative, and inspiring book!
June 26, 2019
Most every page ends with "Red Light, Green Li...." and then a new word is finished on the next page (Lion! Lilac! Lifeboat! Livestock!). A fun book for exploring how words break down into individual sounds, although the storyline is kind of all over the place (which is the idea).
August 1, 2019
Very cute. This book has simple illustrations and a somewhat simple message of appreciating the good and bad in each day. I love how a page would end with “green li-“ and then the next page would finish the word (ex. “-on” for lion). A very different and interesting way to tell a story.
December 7, 2018
This delightful picture book is full of imagination and creativity. It is pouring rain and a lion is delayed at a traffic light waiting for the light to turn green. During the pause all sorts of weird things begin to transpire. All the happenings are silly and begin with "Li" sounds just like the word Li-on. How utterly peculiar and unexplainable!
Undaunted the lion takes everything calmly and in stride. "Some days are not like most days," he states at the beginning of the book. And this day certainly proves him right.
This fun book is inspired by the popular childhood game Red Light, Green Light (which I used to play on my front lawn with my friends every night at twilight). The simple text and the repeated refrain lets kids interact as they try to guess which word might appear next. The illustrations are very different but work well with the simple text. They are limited in colour and drawn with lovely, expressive lines. The illustrator repeatedly uses a soft muted grey colour to present the mystery word so everyone can easily understand the concept.
The author expresses some very important life lessons in her book such as the importance of carrying out acts of kindness, promoting teamwork with those around you, and practising the art of inclusivity. The lion philosophically sums it all up... "Some days we get exactly what we need, exactly when we need." "And some days, nothing goes the way we thought it would." The light turns green and off he goes deeper into his day.
Undaunted the lion takes everything calmly and in stride. "Some days are not like most days," he states at the beginning of the book. And this day certainly proves him right.
This fun book is inspired by the popular childhood game Red Light, Green Light (which I used to play on my front lawn with my friends every night at twilight). The simple text and the repeated refrain lets kids interact as they try to guess which word might appear next. The illustrations are very different but work well with the simple text. They are limited in colour and drawn with lovely, expressive lines. The illustrator repeatedly uses a soft muted grey colour to present the mystery word so everyone can easily understand the concept.
The author expresses some very important life lessons in her book such as the importance of carrying out acts of kindness, promoting teamwork with those around you, and practising the art of inclusivity. The lion philosophically sums it all up... "Some days we get exactly what we need, exactly when we need." "And some days, nothing goes the way we thought it would." The light turns green and off he goes deeper into his day.
August 14, 2019
While the reader waits for a red traffic light to change color, an entire series of green things whose first syllable is "li-" enter the story, beginning with a green lion.
On each two page spread a game inspired by the childhood game "red light, green light" plays out. The phrase "Red light, green li-" begins on the bottom right corner and is concluded on the center left edge of the next two page spread on which that named animal or object appears. This continues until the traffic light changes color, resulting in the penultimate ending .
Young readers will quickly pick up on the pattern and enjoy guessing what thing starting with the sound "li-" will appear next, and they will marvel as the unexpected silliness unfolds.
The illustrations are line drawings done in pastels against a white background, and I could easily picture this book as an animated sequence on Public Broadcasting. The text is set in the font Minik, which adds to the whimsical feel.
As an adult reader, I enjoyed the body of the text, which is a series of motivational statements addressing how surprising and nonsensical things often happen unexpectedly in life and how best to respond, but I felt there was a real disconnect between the main text and the "Red light, green li-" phrases. I could see how the illustrations related to the text, but I don't think most young readers will. And, worse, they may find the commentary confusing.
It would have made more sense for a child audience to drop everything between "Some days are full of surprises." and "Some days don't make much sense in the beginning. But they always do in the end." The story the illustrations for the "Red light, green li-" phrases can stand on its own as a near wordless picture book.
On each two page spread a game inspired by the childhood game "red light, green light" plays out. The phrase "Red light, green li-" begins on the bottom right corner and is concluded on the center left edge of the next two page spread on which that named animal or object appears. This continues until the traffic light changes color, resulting in the penultimate ending .
Young readers will quickly pick up on the pattern and enjoy guessing what thing starting with the sound "li-" will appear next, and they will marvel as the unexpected silliness unfolds.
The illustrations are line drawings done in pastels against a white background, and I could easily picture this book as an animated sequence on Public Broadcasting. The text is set in the font Minik, which adds to the whimsical feel.
As an adult reader, I enjoyed the body of the text, which is a series of motivational statements addressing how surprising and nonsensical things often happen unexpectedly in life and how best to respond, but I felt there was a real disconnect between the main text and the "Red light, green li-" phrases. I could see how the illustrations related to the text, but I don't think most young readers will. And, worse, they may find the commentary confusing.
It would have made more sense for a child audience to drop everything between "Some days are full of surprises." and "Some days don't make much sense in the beginning. But they always do in the end." The story the illustrations for the "Red light, green li-" phrases can stand on its own as a near wordless picture book.
November 17, 2018
Hmmm… Certainly an appealing and interesting book, but I don't think it's an out-and-out success. In trying to define all the kinds of days we live through as humans – happy days, days of surprise and doldrum days – the text might as well try and teach mindfulness to the under-tens. It ain't gonna work. Parallel to that we have a very clever use of the page-turn and centrefold, where a secondary narrative concerning the titular traffic feature and big cat plays out. That's where the fun and wit in the book comes across, but while it plays very well as an illustrator of the black text, they both distract from each other. I had to go back and read the plain self-help bits in isolation. So all in all I can't believe the self-help will, er, help, and I can't pretend it will sink in when there's so much distraction going on. The panel-breaking shenanigans of the design is really clever, however – that certainly would deserve a book on its own.
May 7, 2019
With charming illustrations done in just a few colors and a format that begs readers to make predictions, this picture book is a delight from beginning to end. The book opens with the line "Some days are not like most days," next to a red traffic light and followed by "Red light, green li-" butting up against the edge of the page. When readers turn the page they discover that the light hasn't turned green, but rather a green lion with an umbrella is strolling down the street. Each page continues in this vein, with the "li-" words becoming stranger and more unpredictable. The message of this story, that sometimes things don't turn out how we expected them but they always turn out ok in the end, is an important one. Used a class read aloud, this endearing picture book could spark some thoughtful conversations and could easily lead into a variety of extension activities.
June 23, 2019
Remember the game, “Red Light, Green Light”? At first glance, I misread the title, but quickly realized the title says, “Green Lion.” So begins an opportunity to use textual clues to guess many different words beginning with “Li… Each page provides a clue and requires the reader to turn the page to find out the word. Taken as a whole, there is a storyline as well in which the lion is waiting to cross the street.
Some pages are difficult to guess as the clues are irrelevant or too simple. Lots of white space hold the simple text and simple line drawings in red, green, blue, purple and occasional yellow.
Preschoolers and early elementary would have fun trying to guess these words and would enjoy the imaginative story.
Some pages are difficult to guess as the clues are irrelevant or too simple. Lots of white space hold the simple text and simple line drawings in red, green, blue, purple and occasional yellow.
Preschoolers and early elementary would have fun trying to guess these words and would enjoy the imaginative story.
August 5, 2020
Wordplay based with words beginning with "li-".
While this can be useful for beginning readers, there are too few clues for visual readers as to what is going to appear on the next page. The text feels a bit forced at times, particularly when using outrageous "li-" words and making them fit the pattern - ex. lilac, livestock, lifesaver, library books. Jennifer Yerkes' illustrations rendered in Caran d'Ache Neocolor II pastels and Tombow Dual brush pen are light and primitive, using clear, bright colors. They are very attractive and will certainly draw in readers.
I can see where preschoolers might find this book fun, but more sophisticated readers will ask, "Say, what????"
Additional for PreSchool.
While this can be useful for beginning readers, there are too few clues for visual readers as to what is going to appear on the next page. The text feels a bit forced at times, particularly when using outrageous "li-" words and making them fit the pattern - ex. lilac, livestock, lifesaver, library books. Jennifer Yerkes' illustrations rendered in Caran d'Ache Neocolor II pastels and Tombow Dual brush pen are light and primitive, using clear, bright colors. They are very attractive and will certainly draw in readers.
I can see where preschoolers might find this book fun, but more sophisticated readers will ask, "Say, what????"
Additional for PreSchool.
February 7, 2025
Here's a highly sophisticated puzzle book. A phonics spectacular!
As introduced by our Goodreads blurber:
A green lion is waiting at a red traffic light.
While he waits, a series of unexpected events occurs.
These events involve things that start with the letter L and the sound LI.
Examples are:
* Lightning
* A lilac
* Library books
* Lima beans.
The puzzle comes in because the text on each spread ends with “Red light, green li-,” and the reader must turn the page to see the whole word --- and what's happened.
FIVE STARS for a clever approach. Early readers can be excellent problem solvers. Seems to me, the puzzle-solving approach in this book is VERY compatible with learning to read.
The question is, "What will YOUR child think?"
As introduced by our Goodreads blurber:
A green lion is waiting at a red traffic light.
While he waits, a series of unexpected events occurs.
These events involve things that start with the letter L and the sound LI.
Examples are:
* Lightning
* A lilac
* Library books
* Lima beans.
The puzzle comes in because the text on each spread ends with “Red light, green li-,” and the reader must turn the page to see the whole word --- and what's happened.
FIVE STARS for a clever approach. Early readers can be excellent problem solvers. Seems to me, the puzzle-solving approach in this book is VERY compatible with learning to read.
The question is, "What will YOUR child think?"
May 7, 2019
Silly wordplay, childlike drawings, and a deeper message about change and resilience combine in this unique book.
My favorite part by far was when our hero discovers a group of farm animals stranded by a flood and allows them to share his boat. We read that sometimes we encounter others who need our help, and we can choose to show kindness. Such a great message to absorb, made even more poignant in that it is expressed with farm animals...who most certainly need us to choose to be more kind.
My favorite part by far was when our hero discovers a group of farm animals stranded by a flood and allows them to share his boat. We read that sometimes we encounter others who need our help, and we can choose to show kindness. Such a great message to absorb, made even more poignant in that it is expressed with farm animals...who most certainly need us to choose to be more kind.
July 25, 2019
An amusing book which starts off with the familiar phrase "Red Light Green Li" only we don't get Light we get Lion and now we are off on adventure with a green lion waiting at a stop light for the light to turn green. Each two page spread has the "Red Light Green Li" with a new li word to move the story forward with kindness, perspective and some silliness until it comes full circle with Red Li-. The colourful outlined drawings add to optimistic carefree attitude of the green lion waiting at the stoplight. A supplementary title that could be used in a variety of ways
November 15, 2020
This is such a silly story, which I'm sure would get KS1 children laughing. I think children would enjoy guessing what the next Green Li... word will be. I certainty found it a shock when it finally became red light, green light! It then swaps over to be red li..., green light, which is interesting. I think the illustrations are also humorous. They look like they have been drawn by a child, so children can relate to them. I think this would be a good book to read to children in free time and to have in the book corner. Children will become very familiar with the sound 'li' makes.
September 4, 2024
I really enjoyed this silly book! In this book a Green Lion discovers that sometimes surprising things happen in your day that don't make sense at first but things always make sense in the end. Throughout this book there is the repetition of the phrase "red light, green li..." and each time a different word follows green li... I think this would be a great book to use as a read aloud to talk about different endings of words or examine the letter pattern "li." This book is full of silly surprises and is sure to keep children engaged and wanting to know what will happen next!
June 25, 2020
This book will either be a huge hit or a huge fail at story time. I think it will depend on both the reader and the kids who are listening. Each page provides an opportunity to guess what is coming next. A green lion is stopped at a red light and different green "li-" things come along (lion, library, lima beans, etc.). The illustrations are basically line drawings in simple colors and are quite attractive.
March 16, 2019
“Red Light Green Lion” is original and creative and imaginative. I can’t wait to share it with the children in my life. It’s a great read aloud for teachers. It shows friendship and compassion and dealing with every day emotions. You never know what’s coming on the next page except that it will be green and start with "li-".
September 28, 2024
The illustrations were fun but the story made little to no sense, and the beautiful message that the text was trying to share was entirely lost because of the strangeness added in with random objects and characters. My kid and I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening, and she certainly wasn’t going to grasp the story’s morals because she was much too distracted.
March 7, 2019
Young readers will be guessing what is on the next page as the green li- words change. We start out at a red light followed by a green lion. Surprises, rescues and silliness describe each unique day.
June 18, 2019
Bookaday #28. Cute concept, guessing words that begin with li- to fit in the story. Not sure the intended audience of young readers would guess many of them, I didn’t. But maybe that’s the fun of the book.
July 23, 2019
This is both a charming and silly book, championing the everyday life that can be filled with surprises, it sometimes feel like the story and the illustrations match for the sake of it but it is cleverly done and lots of fun guessing what green thing is coming up next!
October 1, 2019
Personally, I wouldn’t this book into my classroom as I didn’t really understand the purpose of it. It was complex and difficult to follow and don’t feel like it would serve a purpose in my class. However I did like the illustrations and it might come in use when teaching about colours!
October 20, 2019
Some days don’t go as planned, but surprise can be a good thing. you may be expecting a green light but you may get something entirely different. It’s all about how you choose to respond. Every page turn is a surprise. Fun read. Clever concept.
December 18, 2019
.... hm, it was okay to read - simple and nice illustrations with nice light colors - and easy to read. I wasn´t really impressed, but this is just my opinion - so give it a try!
Note 3 or C
thanks for letting me review this ARC
Note 3 or C
thanks for letting me review this ARC
January 8, 2020
A cute story with a great message. It's a fun read aloud for school age kids b/c they can try to guess what's coming next (it always starts with li). It's fun, and if I can figure out a way to use it in a family storytime I will.
June 7, 2021
“Red light-green li-“ with a page turn that completes it with a surprise word. While the text softly talks about how some days have surprises, things go wrong, meet people in need... the arc takes us through a surprising rainy day for a green lion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews