children's book review: Glory the Lioncub and the Dunnos

Glory is an inquisitive lion cub who would like to have his fur patterned like the cheetah, the zebra and the snake as he meets each one. He also wants to know their names but he is amazed to find that each share the same one – ‘Dunno’! When Glory meets a young elephant with the same name, but with two ‘tails’, he is even more intrigued. He quickly discovers that mud baths are not suitable for lions but it is many years before he realises what ‘Dunno’ means. 

Magnus is a young elephant who decides that he would like to be a doctor. As he comes across sick or injured animals, he tries to make them better using methods he has seen other creatures use. The patients pretend to be very grateful and Magnus is happy with himself. Gradually, however, he learns that each animal has their own type of medicine and when a young cow elephant catches his eye, he decides he just wants to be a grown-up elephant. 

Benedict is a dark brown bear from North America who mistakes the humming of telephone wires for bees. Climbing the telegraph pole in search for honey, he is amazed to hear a voice coming over the wires – it’s Polar Bear from the Arctic. Benedict is amazed to learn that other bears are white and he listens eagerly to how polar bears can travel across ice. When he tries to tell his family, they laugh at him and he wonders if he has been dreaming. 

Glory the Lion Cub and the Dunnos brings together three different animal stories that will be enjoyed by children between the age of seven and nine.

~~~My Review~~~~

Creating a book for ages 7-9 is a pretty hard thing to do. It's really easy to make the mistake of taking a story that's better suited as a picture book and trying to make it grow up and be a chapter book. The opposite, accidentally making a book that's beyond the reading level of ages 7-9 but not interesting to anyone else is also easy.

I don't think Glory the Lion Cub quite hit the mark. As far as how it could be better, I would make it younger. Three picture books for a slightly younger audience. As it is, this book just didn't do it for me.