The Lion’s Feast
by Lavanya Karthik and illustrated by Chetan Sharma
Today (August 10th) is World Lion Day. “The Lion’s Feast” by Lavanya Karthik and illustrated by Chetan Sharma. Published by Karadi Tales. A humorous tale of a hungry Lion and an old couple whose hospitality goes terribly wrong.
Old Muthumama and his wife Muthumami lived in a little house near the forest. They would walk to the town on the other side of the forest every Friday to buy groceries. On one such occasion, they came across a Lion when returning home. The Lion was ravenously hungry and told them that he would eat them. What can an old couple do in such a situation? Of course they can’t run away. They had to come up with a plan to save their lives. And a quick one of course.
Muthumami did come up with an idea. She made an irresistible offer to the Lion. Why would he want to eat two skinny and old people when he could feast on hot dosas with spicy sambar and the tastiest as well as juiciest chutney!! Well, did the Lion fall for it? Of course, he had to right :) The delicious scents wafting from a South Indian kitchen were too alluring for the Lion to give it a miss. He agreed after Muthumama assured him that the feast would be ready for him by evening.
The couple hurried home as fast as they could. They set about to work in the kitchen and prepare the food. But the food was smelling heavenly and the work was so tiring that they ended up eating all the dosas. What would they do now? The Lion had already reached their home and was knocking the door. The smell of the food was all over the house and the Lion couldn’t wait to eat his feast. What happened next? Did the Lion find out that his feast had already been eaten? What did he do to Muthumama and Muthumami? Can they escape from the Lion? How should the story end?
The children get the freedom to decide how to end the story in this book. They can even write the ending in the last two pages which have been left blank for this purpose. The illustrations are charming and a feast for the senses. I have been reading this with my seven year old for the last two years and we have a good laugh each time we read it. It does help to have some Dosa batter and some sambar and chutney ready. You will be yearning for it after reading the book :) The book is apt for children aged 5/6+.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Karadi Tales here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
Here is a Pride of Lions from our collection.
While I have already written about “The Lion and the Bird”, the reviews of rest of the books will follow sooner or later!