Mama Lion Wins the Race, written by John Muth, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Student Reviewer: Gaspard M.
Summary: Mama Lion Wins the Race by Jon J Muth is a beautiful story of Momma Lion and Tigey as they embark on a car race and learn valuable lessons. During the race, Momma Lion contemplates the importance of getting first place and how there is “more than one way to win a race”, as well as how important it is to help people who have helped you in the past. For example, Mamma Lion and Tigey crash their car, but the Pandini’s stop to help them, even though it meant that they could lose the race. Momma Lion then repays their kindness in a very big way. Other characters, moreover, also contribute to different morals. The Knitted Monkeys, for example, stress the importance of apologizing when you commit a mistake when they break the rules, get a penalty, and they ask forgiveness. Bun Bun stressed the importance of helping the environment when she stops to plant and water seeds during the race, and a plane flies above her, trailing a flag saying “Go Bun Bun!”.

Straight Talk for Librarians: The beautiful watercolor illustrations create vivid images that are engaging for emerging readers. The text includes hilarious wordplay. This might be a bit more challenging for newer readers, but it will make for good discussion and it’s a good learning opportunity. The story will be quite popular among readers who are interested in animals and cars. The build-up to the race is exciting and readers will feel like they are at the start line. The setting seems to be in a charming European city with fast Italian cars. Mama Lion Wins the Race is a very thoughtful, sweet, and engaging story that teaches kids values and that there is “more than one way to win,'' as the author puts it at the end of the book. It would make for a good read-aloud or an independent reading choice. A solid purchase for a school library.