Chloe and the Lion

by Mac Barnett, Adam Rex (Illustrator)

Overview

The bestselling, dynamic duo of Mac Barnett and Adam Rex creatively spar as they battle to tell a tantalizing tale in this clever comedy sketch that breaks "the fourth wall".

Meet Chloe: Every week, she collects loose change so she can buy tickets to ride the merry-go-round. But one fateful day, she gets lost in the woods on her way home, and a large dragon leaps out from—"Wait! It's supposed to be a lion," says Mac Barnett, the author of this book. But Adam Rex, the illustrator, thinks a dragon would be so much cooler (don't you agree?). Mac's power of the pen is at odds with Adam's brush, and Chloe's story hangs in the balance. Can she help them out of this quandary to be the heroine of her own story's

"Twisty plotting, irreverent dialogue, visual hilarity, and sophisticated book design...an arch package." —Booklist

Don't miss these other books by Mac Barnett
Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem
How This Book Was Made
Rules of the House
Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)
Oh No! Not Again! (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423113348
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/03/2012
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	363,654
Product dimensions:	9.58(w) x 9.38(h) x 0.45(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mac Barnett is the author of many books for children, including Extra Yarn, illustrated by Jon Klassen, a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse, a New York Times bestseller; Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the E. B. White Read Aloud Award. Other titles include The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, Chloe and the Lion, How This Book Was Made, Count the Monkeys, and Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem. He is the co-author, with Jory John, of the New York Times bestselling series The Terrible Two. Mac lives in California.

Adam Rex is the multi-talented author of books for children, middle readers and young adults, as well as an accomplished illustrator. He has written such beloved picture books as School’s First Day of School (illustrated by Christian Robinson), has created both pictures and words for favorites like Are You Scared, Darth Vader?, Nothing Rhymes with Orange, and Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich; and he has illustrated books by bestselling authors like The Legend of Rock Scissors Paper by Drew Daywalt, Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett, and Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman. The True Meaning of Smekday was his first novel, followed by Smek for President! and other books for middle and teen readers. He grew up in Phoenix, got a BFA from the University of Arizona, and now lives in Tucson. 

Editorial Reviews

Take a vaudeville stage with some flimsy painted scenery, two clay figures that represent Barnett and Rex (Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem), a brash and bespectacled heroine named Chloe (hand-drawn), a lion (also drawn), and some walk-on characters, and you’ve got a comedy sketch in picture-book form about the chaos involved in collaborative storytelling. The action plays out in photos of a small, makeshift stage on which Chloe gets lost in the forest and meets—a lion? Or should it be a dragon? “Mac” and “Adam” disagree vehemently about which would be cooler, and Adam ends up being eaten by the lion. Chloe tries to enlist the help of passersby to save him (“I only go after wolves dressed as old ladies,” says a strapping man felling trees) and eventually comes up with a solution of her own, one that allows for even more meta-comedy. As befits its work-in-progress nature, the story gets a little lost in the middle, but rat-a-tat dialogue and fresh visuals should keep it at the top of the bedtime pile. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

* "Children old enough to understand the constructs of a book will delight in the comedic deconstruction, and adults will enjoy the references to traditional tales, from King Arthur to Frankenstein... Use this book to teach point of view and collaborative process."—School Library Journal

"The fourth wall is broken to bits in this meta-musing on the creation of a picture book....Storytelling tropes abound, skewered one after another by Chloe's infallible wherewithal, until she secures her just reward. As entertainment the story functions well, combining twisty potting, irreverent dialogue, visual hilarity, and sophisticated book design into an arch package. But beneath the silly surface, children will find a meaningful exposition of just what goes into a successful picture book, and how author, illustrator, and character must collaborate and compromise."—Booklist

"Take a vaudeville stage with some flimsy painted scenery, two clay figures that represent Barnett and Rex (Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem), a brash and bespectacled heroine named Chloe (hand-drawn), a lion (also drawn), and some walk-on characters, and you've got a comedy sketch in picture-book form about the chaos involved in collaborative storytelling....Rat-a-tat dialogue and fresh visuals should keep it at the top of the bedtime pile."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

K-Gr 3—After Barnett and Rex introduce themselves, readers meet Chloe, the main character. The story progresses smoothly until Mac writes that a huge lion leapt out at Chloe, and Adam draws a dragon instead (he "just thought a dragon would be cooler"). A fight erupts over artistic vision, with the author firing the illustrator and having the lion swallow him whole. He then introduces a new artist who can "illustrate a brilliant story written by a true genius." The new illustrator does not work out as hoped, though, and nor do Mac's attempts to illustrate the book himself. Finally Chloe takes command and sets off on a fairy-tale-inspired quest to save the story and Adam. The illustrations are pitch-perfect: claymation for the author and illustrators and cartoon for the story characters, who act out their parts on a proscenium stage. The result is an elaborate prank on the picture-book genre, and it comes together in playful harmony. Chloe is an engaging youngster, sporting blue braids, owlish glasses, and a pith helmet. Children old enough to understand the constructs of a book will delight in the comedic deconstruction, and adults will enjoy the references to traditional tales, from King Arthur to Frankenstein.—Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR

School Library Journal

This meta-picture book offers plenty of sly giggles (and knows it). On first read, the droll surprises in Barnett and Rex's project are endearing. "This is me, Mac. I'm the author of this book," explains a waving man, who next introduces "Adam…. the illustrator" and "Chloe…. the main character." Conservatively dressed Mac (collared shirt and tie under sweater) and hipster Adam (thick-rimmed glasses, big-cuffed, darkwash jeans) resemble stringless Plasticine marionettes. Chloe is more cartoony, with wide-leg pants, indigo pigtails and huge purple eyes under enormous glasses. Initially, Chloe's plot is mild--a walk, a merry-go-round. But Adam draws a dragon where Mac's text specifies a lion, and, after a power struggle, Mac fires Adam. Mac hires a substitute, then makes the (badly-drawn-because-not-drawn-by-Adam) lion swallow Adam. Without Adam, things go badly. Mac needs Chloe's help. As cool as Chloe is, her arc's mostly a vehicle for the Mac/Adam conflict and for excellent inter-media interactions such as a flatly drawn lion swallowing a 3-D–looking figure. Nobody explains why Chloe's plot occurs on a theater stage, nor how new characters appear during a phase when--supposedly--nobody's illustrating. One terrific scene echoes the old Looney Tunes cartoon about a cartoonist briskly altering Daffy Duck's costumes and scenery, to Daffy's great consternation. Clever and funny, though it's possible that only a niche audience will want repeat readings. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews