Just Like My Papa

by Toni Buzzeo, Mike Wohnoutka (Illustrator)

Overview

Kito wants to be just like his papa, the protector of the pride. Throughout a day and night on the savanna, the cub imitates the way his father roars, swings his tail, shakes his head, and pounces.Kito may be too little to catch a wildebeest, but he is brave enough to succeed in his own hunt. Someday he will be King, just like Papa.



With its rhythmic text, dramatic moments on the African plain, and playful times for cub and papa, this book will makes a perfect read-aloud for family sharing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484787953
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/11/2017
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,141,024
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 2 Years

About the Author

Toni Buzzeo (www.tonibuzzeo.com) is a children's book author and reviewer and retired school library media specialist. She speaks at national, state, and regional library and reading conferences and does author visits at schools across the country.Among her many books are My Bibi Always Remembers and Stay Close to Mama, companions to this book, and the Caldecott Honor-winning and New York Times best-selling One Cool Friend, ilustrated by David Small. She lives in Massachusetts.


Mike Wohnoutka (www.mikewohnoutka.com) grew up in Spicer, Minnesota. His dad, an engineer, would bring home reams of paper with highway plans on one side. Mike filled the blank side of the sheets with drawings of race cars, snowmobiles, baseball players, super heroes-everything he was interested in. In high school his art teacher encouraged him to pursue art as a career. He graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in illustration. Mike has published books with Random House, Dutton, Clarion, and Holiday House. He enjoys visiting schools and talking to students about illustrating children's books. He currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

"The acrylic illustrations are larger than life and show the expanses of the savannah but remain warm and kid-friendly, especially in the lions' depth of expression, ranging from curiosity to impatience, from concern to pride. The pacing is superb, with just the right amount of drama for the youngest readers yet awash with reassuring paternal love and care for young Kito."— School Library Journal

"The warm and reassuring flow of the text coupled with the dramatic painterly scenes of the African landscape come together for a likable tale just in time for Father's Day."— Kirkus Reviews

"The personification of the lions allows the love between father and son to radiate throughout both the text and the luscious full-page colored illustrations. The book's rich, rhythmic language makes it a good candidate for reading aloud to a group. At the same time, its quiet nature makes for a good one-on-one sharing, too."— Booklist

From the Publisher

PreS-K—This companion to Stay Close to Mama (Hyperion, 2012) chronicles a day in the life of an adult male lion and his son. Though anthropomorphized, many details of life on the savannah shine forth in the simple, lyrical prose. Kito, the young cub of the king of the pride, narrates with the refrain, "Just like my papa, the King." After a playful, restful afternoon under an acacia tree, the action and atmosphere climax in a twilight hunt of wildebeest. Before a vast sun-swept landscape, "Papa stands and gives his dark brown mane a fearsome shake. He follows the lionesses to the hunt. Kito shakes his little head. He sneaks off after Papa. I will hunt, too. Just like my papa, the King." What makes this title work is the blend of factual information about a pride's habitat and behavior with the compelling, personal narrative of a son following his father's footsteps and winning his respect. The acrylic illustrations are larger than life and show the expanses of the savannah but remain warm and kid-friendly, especially in the lions' depth of expression, ranging from curiosity to impatience, from concern to pride. The pacing is superb, with the right amount of drama for the youngest readers yet awash with reassuring paternal love and care for young Kito. An author's note briefly describes the social interactions of a pride.—Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City

School Library Journal

Buzzeo and Wohnoutka (Stay Close to Mama, 2012) pair up again, this time taking a closer look at the loving dynamic between a lion and his mischievous cub on the African savanna. Papa is "the protector and King" as he roars "a warning…across the plain." Young Kito (Swahili for "precious gem") wants to be just like his father; after all, someday he will also be king. Throughout the day he growls, dodges a laughing hyena, attempts to swat flies with "his little golden tail" and waits with instinctual anticipation as the lionesses target a wildebeest on an evening hunt. Always he is at his dad's side. A playful spread set against all white shows Papa "with a swipe of his huge paw…send[ing] Kito flying through the air, like a stork gliding on the breeze." A tender nighttime spread of Kito on his father's back tells of him raking "his paw gently through his papa's mane." Children and their parents will appreciate this intimate look at this wild feline pair. Although presented as a charming story about a specific lion cub, the descriptive facts provided about lion prides are accurate and later expanded upon in a note at the book's end. The warm and reassuring flow of the text and the dramatic painterly scenes of the African landscape come together for a likable tale just in time for Father's Day. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews