The Lion and the three Bulls

Abstract

The back cover advertises this and the other books of this series as award-winning motivational character-building picture books. The overall series, Sommer-Time Story Series, has won over forty national awards. The front cover promises fun but mentions also friendship, trust, and teamwork. This version of the story has something in it of Kalila and Dimnah. The lion enlists the help of the sly fox to get at the bulls he wants so desperately to eat. The fox, having first got the lion's promise of a bull's leg for his efforts, says to each of the three bulls that the others are making ugly remarks about him. The bulls soon fall out. When two of them are attacking each other, the lion jumps upon the third. This bull runs to his two friends with the lion clinging to his back. They promptly help, and the lion goes away disappointed. The fox complains about not getting the leg of bull promised him. The lion then devours the fox. The three bulls check out -- at last! -- the rumors told them about each other. They reconcile and enjoy again living together. The artist is at his best depicting both the rumor-mongering of the fox with each bull and the counter-attack of the other two bulls. This particular series, Sommer-Time Story Classics, contains some twelve fable books. This library edition has a cloth reinforced binding and is very sturdy. There are also video and read-along versions of these books with sound effects, and there are free online helps too.