Kevin Hawkes talks about Library Lion
1:27
Kevin Hawkes visits Books Etc
and discusses his book Library lion
Tags: Kevin Hawkes
Added: 3 years ago
From: donnasbooks
Views: 528
[Kevin is sitting in a chair holding a copy of his book]
KEVIN HAWKES: Hi. I'm Kevin Hawkes, and I'm gonna talk to you about this book, "Library Lion," written by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by myself. Um, it's a story about a lion that comes to a library, and there the lion makes himself at home and becomes useful to the library, and becomes part of the library. When I first got this book, I loved the manuscript, because it reminded me when I was a child. I was born into an Air Force family, so I moved everywhere from age ... well, from first grade to fifth grade, I was in five different schools. And the one thing that was very constant in my life was the library. My mother used to take my brothers and I and my sister to the library, and every library in the world smells the same. They all smell like old books. And I could go to the library and see all of my friends there, the different books that I had read at various places in my life, and it was a very comforting experience. So I wanted "Library Lion" to be literary comfort food, so I illustrated it in a way that was sort of sweet and old-fashioned, hoping that when children would read this book, they would have the same feelings as I had when I visited the library.
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From amazon.com:
"Library Lion" (2006) by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Miss Merriweather, the head librarian, is very particular about rules in the library. No running allowed. And you must be quiet. But when a lion comes to the library one day, no one is sure what to do. There aren't any rules about lions in the library. And, as it turns out, this lion seems very well suited to library visiting. His big feet are quiet on the library floor. He makes a comfy backrest for the children at story hour. And he never roars in the library, at least not anymore. But when something terrible happens, the lion quickly comes to the rescue in the only way he knows how.
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From wordpress.com:
For someone who loves children's books as much as I do, it's rather pathetic how little time my daughters and I have spent inside a library. In fact, we've been just twice in Eloise's three years. Our most recent visit lasted less than 10 minutes – about 30 seconds after settling into the children's section, my girls were racing in opposite directions through the stacks, screeching back and forth in high-pitch tones like dolphins using echolocation. With a girl under each arm, I left embarrassed.
In all honesty, though, the apples don't fall far from the tree. I have more than a handful of memories of being asked to leave the library after particularly disruptive behavior on the part of my younger sisters and myself (yelling, running and hair-pulling were not uncommon).
When I came across Michelle Knudsen's "Library Lion," I was fondly reminded of those trouble-making days. I felt an immediate kinship with the author's curious lion, who wanders into the library one day and has trouble following the rules.
When the lion walks through the library's front doors, the circulation desk attendant, Mr. McBee, is startled by the big cat's presence. While the lion finds a comfortable place to enjoy the children's story hour, Mr. McBee goes running to the office of head librarian Miss Merriweather. She, however, is not fazed by her assistant's report but does chastise Mr. McBee for running in the library.
***
One day, a lion came to the library. He walked right past the circulation desk and up into the stacks.
Mr. McBee ran down the hall to the head librarian's office. "Miss Merriweather!" he called.
"No running," said Miss Merriweather, without looking up.
"But there's a lion!" said Mr. McBee. "In the library!"
"Is he breaking any rules?" asked Miss Merriweather. She was very particular about rule breaking.
"Well, no," said Mr. McBee. "Not really."
"Then leave him be."
The lion wandered all around the library. He sniffed the card catalog.
He rubbed his head against the new book collection.
Then he padded over to the story corner and went to sleep.
No one was sure what to do. There weren't any rules about lions in the library.
***
And so, the lion is allowed to sit through story hour. But when the books are closed and the children all get up to leave, he roars in protest. Miss Merriweather, of course, is not happy. The lion is informed that he will only be allowed back at the library if he can learn to keep quiet.
The lion returns the next day a model patron. In fact, he becomes a beloved fixture at the library, helping Miss Merriweather with dusting and stamp licking and helping children reach books on the top shelves. He wins over everyone – everyone except Mr. McBee, that is:
***
At first, the people in the library were nervous about the lion. But soon they got used to having him around. In fact, he seemed very well suited for the library. His big feet were quiet on the library floor. He made a comfy backrest for the children at story hour. And he never roared in the library anymore.
"What a helpful lion," people said. They patted his soft head as he walked by. "How did we ever get along without him?"
Mr. McBee scowled when he heard that. They had always gotten along fine before. No lions were needed! Lions, he thought, could not understand rules. They did not belong in a library.
***
Mr. McBee is eager for an excuse to banish the lion once and for all. He's certain he has found just cause when the lion comes tearing down the hall and lets out his loudest roar right in Mr. McBee's face. After dishing out a harsh reprimand, Mr. McBee takes off toward Miss Merriweather's office intent on tattling only to find that Miss Merriweather had fallen and broken her arm, hence the lion's urgency.
Before anyone can thank the lion, he leaves, certain his rule breaking has made him unwelcome. Days go by, and Miss Merriweather and the rest of the patrons miss him sorely. His conscience heavy, Mr. McBee tracks down the sulking lion and offers an olive branch.
"I thought you might like to know," said Mr. McBee, "That there's a new rule at the library. No roaring allowed, unless you have a very good reason – say, if you're trying to help a friend who's been hurt, for example."
To everyone's delight, the lion returns to the library the next day.
Libraries, with their insistence on quiet and decorum, are often intimidating places for children. Knudsen's lion embodies young readers' struggle to adhere to the rules in the midst of their excitement at exploring this novel place. The lion's redemption gives a child hope that they, too, have a place at the library, even if they do slip up once or twice.
Prior to writing and editing children's books, Knudsen worked in libraries in New York City and Ithaca, New York. One imagines that her experiences in the field (including rule enforcement) have likely influenced her work. In an interview on a fellow author's blog, Knudsen says, "We did occasionally get animal visitors at the Cornell library – birds, squirrels, the occasional dog that got tired of waiting for its owner to come back out – but never any lions, I'm fairly certain."
Like many of us, both Knudsen and illustrator Kevin Hawkes have treasured memories of childhood days spent at the library. Hawkes, who grew up in a roving military family, says the one constant of his youth was the feeling of home he found in libraries he visited in each new city.
"Every library in the world smells the same – they all smell like old books," he said in a YouTube video about the book. "I could go to the library and see all of my friends there – different books that I had read at various places in my life. And it was a very comforting experience."
Using acrylic paints and pencil, Hawkes has crafted timeless illustrations that honor our ubiquitous reverence for libraries. The soft color palette makes me think of the muted spines of old books. His rendering of Knudsen's lion is both huggably sweet and nobly stoic, immediately bringing to mind the marble lions guarding the New York Public Library.
Knudsen's endearing story, paired with Hawkes' charming images, result in a library etiquette manual served with a spoonful of sugar. When I read the book aloud, I editorialize a bit, taking extra pains to emphasize the moral of the story: "Oh, that poor lion. He has to sit outside in the cold, cold rain because he yelled and ran in the library. He's sooo sad." Maybe with a few dozen more readings our family will be prepared for a return trip to the library.
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