Nani and the Lion
by Alicia D. Williams; illus. by Anna Cunha
Preschool, Primary    Dlouhy/Atheneum    40 pp.
2/26    9781665914222    $19.99

Grouchy and despotic Lion prowls the edge of young Nani’s village, frightening its human inhabitants and the other animals alike. “I am Lion, lord of the land! No one dares make noise in King Lion’s land!” Nani is known for the joy brought by her drumming, which mimics the sounds of nature and moves her fellow villagers to dance. But as “her soft BA-DUMP-BUMP-BUM would grow louder…someone would cry out, ‘Nani, shh, the lion.’” She tries to remain quiet, but music-making calls. She travels first to the edge of the village and then beyond, playing for the “baboons, bat-eared foxes…aardwolves,” and others who inspire her. But Lion’s ire is awakened by the sounds, and in Nani’s haste to warn the villagers, she unwittingly leads the creature back to her home. Everyone is frightened, but the clever protagonist knows what will soothe the savage beast. Williams’s (Steptoe winner and Newbery honoree for Genesis Begins Again, rev. 1/19) text has the cadence of a folktale, with ear-pleasing sound effects and patterns and featuring a satisfying resolution. Cunha’s (illustrator of Indigo Dreaming, rev. 9/22) beautifully textured and colorful digital illustrations center her characteristic rosy-cheeked, brown-skinned humans—and one very expressive big cat.

From the January/February 2026 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.