I absolutely loved this book! First, the story itself was concise, well written, and intriguing. The author spent the majority of the book allowing the two main characters (Fanaye and Abebe) to get to know each other slowly. Watching their relationship change and grow on each page was very intriguing. Although the book was short (only 32 pages) the author did a fantastic job of showing how the conflict between Fanaye and Abebe changed their views on life and family. For example, in the end of the book, the author wrote, "all this time,Fanaye had pretended not notice Abebe's torn shammas and ruined shoes....Fanaya, he asked politely, could you please make me some new clothes? I promise I'll keep them nice."

I also loved the pictures in this book. The illustrator used a combination of painting, collage and digital media to add meaning to the story. Each picture used the same warm colors mixed with brown . These colors helped the reader imagine the characters living in a hot climate. Furthermore, the author added paper cut outs from photographs to add finer detail to the illustrations.
Overall, the big picture message of this book is that for many people, love and trust grows slowly over time. ( )

Genre:Folktale
Age App: 2-4
Review: This book is a good example of a folktale because it tells an old story of a women learning a lesson from a lion. The African tribe who generated this folktale was one of the only tribes to write down their stories. The book stays true to the folktale and makes it interesting through collage.
Media: Collage
Point of View: First Person ( )

This Ethiopian folktale presents a helpful contrast to the stereotypical character of the evil stepmother. Fanaye marries Testa and looks forward to becoming the stepmother to his son, Abebe. Abebe, however, is still grieving for his dead mother and angrily rejects all of Fanaye's acts of kindness. Following the advice of a wise man, Fanaye concocts a plan for getting whiskers from a lion that teaches her about how to get closer with Abebe.

This book tells the story of a childless mother in Ethiopia who marries a man who has a son. All the woman wants is for the son to love her as much as she loves him. In her quest for his love, she goes to see a medicine man, who tells her she must pluck three whiskers from a mighty lion so that he can make a potion for the son. When she accomplishes this through patience and building the lion's trust, the medicine man tells her to approach her new stepson with the same ideas. It works, and they become a family.