Circle Round: Sun Flower Lion by Kevin Henkes

What can you see? What can a circle be?

THIS IS THE SUN.

It is round, with rays.

THIS IS A FLOWER.

It is round, with petals.

THIS IS A LION.

His head is round, with a mane.

Warming in the sun, the lion runs over hills filled with golden sunflowers. When he tires, he lies down to rest and begins to dream. He begins to dream of golden cookies which look like the sunflowers and like the warm sun. And when he wakes, he runs home, happy to be with his family, sleeping and warm together.

In his latest, Sun Flower Lion Sun Flower Lion (Greenwillow Books, 2020), Caldecott-winning author-illustrator uses simple text and simple shapes to introduce color and evocative language to explore similaries of form and feeling. The sun is warm and so is the circle of family, and the little lion moving through the landscape of sunflowers ties together the concepts as he goes. As in his Caldecott Medal book, Kitten's First Full Moon:, kids bookshelf the method is the message, and Henkes' easy-reading text makes this book both a toddler book teaching shapes and a beginning reader for Kindergarten and first graders.

Henkes creates an impeccably designed story that’s rewarding for toddlers and early readers alike. "With imagination at its center, this participatory read-aloud also cleverly introduces the concept of simile and metaphor. 

As brilliant as can be,” says Kirkus, in a starred review.