A Lion to Guard Us Author:Clyde Robert Bulla, Michele Chessare (Illustrator) Amanda Freebold doesn't know what to do. Her father left three years ago for the new colony of Jamestown, America -- thousands of miles away. All Amanda has to remember him by is a little brass lion's head he gave his family to guard them while he is gone. Now her mother has just died, leaving Amanda to take care of her younger brother a... more »nd sister.
As head of the family, Amanda finally decides to take her brother and sister to America to find Father. The ocean crossing is long and hard, and the children don't know whom to trust. But with the lion's head to guard them, Amanda knows that somehow everything will work out fine.
Notable 1981 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Children's Books of 1981 (Library of Congress)« less
This short book is great for introducing young readers to life in the early 1600s for servants in England, the harshness of crossing the Atlantic, and the hardiness of those up to the task. It shows life as it was without sugar coating things -but it does so in a practical manner so that it is not heart wrenching or depressing.
My complaint with this book comes from the illustrations, not the story! Illustrator Michele Chessare looks like she used Picasso as inspiration. There are no beautiful pictures typical for children's books - instead there are strange to disturbing (for children) illustrations. That was a big disappointment & the reason for 4 stars instead of the 5 the text deserves