Lion & Tiger & Bear: Tag! You're It! - Hardcover

Ethan Long is the award-winning and internationally recognized author and illustrator of over 65 children’s books, as well as the creator of the Emmy-nominated series Tasty Time with ZeFronk on Playhouse Disney. Long won the Geisel Award for his picture book Up, Tall, and High! He lives with his wife, author Heather Long, and their three children in Orlando, Florida. www.ethanlong.com.

PreS-Gr 1-Long's fans will embrace this tale of friendship with its fun, colorful digitally created cartoon illustrations. The book opens with Lion intently painting a picture, when Bear sneaks up and tags him, in hopes of starting this game with his friend. Annoyed Lion does not join in, but Bear gets Tiger to play instead. Lion still does not want to play when Tiger tags him. Lion even makes a wall out of sticks so his friends will get the message. "Lion made himself extremely unavailable." Tiger and Bear continue playing tag by themselves but eventually try double teaming Lion in hopes he will change his mind. But this doesn't work, either. "PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE! I do NOT want to play! I just want to finish my painting!" Tiger then asks, "Okay but do you promise you'll play when you're done?" Lion agrees. Illustrations work well with the text. The story ends with the three friends sitting down to enjoy Lion's painting. Guess who wants to start the next game of tag? VERDICT This lighthearted story about conflict resolution with friends is a good addition to public and school libraries.-Robin Sofge, Alexandria Library, VAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.