Snow Lion by David McPhail

Snow Lion by David McPhail, published in 1982, deals with a lion who isn't coping too well with the hot conditions in his jungle. So he ventures up into the mountains where he finds snow, a substance he has never seen before. Eager to share his discovery he carries a sample back to the jungle. However, when he returns home and opens his bag, to his great depair, his cold fluffy stuff has disappeared. What could be happening? His friends are starting to think he must be delusional. This quaint little hard back is a delightful read for infant children. David McPhail has written and illustrated over 200 books and lives in Massachusetts.

Author/illustrator David McPhail

The Dictionary of Wimps by Alan Grant, David McPhail and John Gadsby

A funny little wimpy dictionary from our New Zealand neighbours written by well-known television personalities (not that I have heard of any of them.) sure to delight anyone who reads widely and has an extensive knowledge of words and their origins. it is basically a field guide to wimpotence and had me laughing out loud from time to time. So if you are a wimp or think you know one, this book could quite easily appeal to your wimpy side. The ink illustrations by Chicane add greatly to the humour.  Here are a few wimpy definitions starting with the first one in the dictionary.

aardvark: a typically wimpish mammal. Dwells in burrows, only comes out at night, and lives on termites, presumably because it hasn't got the guts to come out in daytime and hunt for real food like a man. Wimps always make a beeline for the aardvark cage whenever they go to the zoo.

Further in we have the jury defined as twelve wimps unable to decide the fate of a real man.

And towards the end we have a discussion of teddy bears apparently many people keep these cuddly soft toys far into adult life. Most wimps, however, were secretly afraid of them and quite glad to get rid of them.

My favourite is probably  team:that which a wimp was never asked to be part of at school, and was only included in because the teacher said that somebody had to have him.