The Lion Inside; Rachel Bright, illustrated by Jim Field

I love Rachel Bright’s stories and this is another firm favourite. The Lion Inside is the perfect book for any young child who is lacking a little bit of confidence and needs help finding their roar. As little mouse learns, we all have a little bit of mouse and a little bit of lion inside of us.

Mouse lives a hard life and is tired of being ignored and sat on by the other jungle animals. Lion on the other hand is the king of the jungle who is respected by all the animals and usually finds himself as the centre of attention. Fed up of living in lion’s shadow and being beneath lion both metaphorically and literally (mouse lives in a space below the rock where lion sleeps) mouse sets out to change his ways and comes up with an idea that he thinks is the perfect solution to his problem. But when mouse ventures off to see lion he is in for one very big surprise…

Mouse is desperate to be like lion but finds out that he doesn’t need to be like lion at all, he just needs to find his own voice and have self-belief. There are delightful messages on finding courage, being brave, taking risks (mouse faces the prospect of being lion’s dinner) and chasing your dreams. And also that friendship comes in the most unlikeliest forms.

The story is told in delightful rhyming prose and, as expected, the artwork by Jim Field is delightful and full of warmth and charm.

A lovely story with a wonderful moral…find the confidence within yourself. Even those lacking confidence can find the self-belief hidden deep within them. You don’t need to be the size of a lion, you just need to have the heart of one.

Recommended for 4+.