The Lion Inside

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Fed up of being ignored by the other animals, Mouse wishes he could roar like Lion. But, as he discovers, even the biggest, bossiest people are scared sometimes … and even the smallest creatures can have the heart of a lion! A Rose Original Production with Nicoll Entertainment, Curve, MAST Mayflower Studios, and Unicorn Theatre

She explores the lovliness of words and the magic of pictures, revelling in a world of jam-eating miniature bears and other made-up animals. The story tells us that ‘we all have a mouse AND a lion inside’. Can you think of any stories that have a moral? What do they try to teach us? Create your own illustrations of a lion and a mouse. Use our lion photos (see below) for inspiration. Look at the facial expression of the animals in each illustration. Can you take photographs of yourself (or a friend) showing different facial expressions and use these as the starting point for your own illustrations?The mouse realises that “if you want things to change, you first have to change YOU.” What does this mean? What do you think Rachel Bright wants us to learn from reading The Lion Inside? What did you learn from reading The Lion Inside? The story is told in delightful rhyming prose and as expected, the artwork by Jim Field is delightful and full of warmth and charm. Rachel is a writer of words, drawer of pictures and champion of silver linings. She exhibits widely, writes tirelessly and frequently creates slightly unhinged characters. Home Learning Reader in Residence Reader in Residence Digital Nursery and Reception The Lion Inside The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright and Jim Field Published by Orchard Books

She once won a week-long date in Tahiti, with ‘Man of the Millenium’ featured in Marie Claire magazine (and then spent a long time living it down). She collects alphabets and hats and has a Nissan Figaro car which everyone says looks like a matchbox toy.Fed up of being ignored and forgotten by the other animals, Mouse wishes he could roar like Lion. But, as he discovers, even the biggest, bossiest people are scared sometimes ... and even the smallest creatures can have the heart of a lion! She runs a really long way every day and has done loads of ultra-marathons all over the world, the most recent of which include the Atlantic Coast Challenge (3 marathons in 3 days) and the Midnight Sun marathon in the Arctic Circle. She’s done zillions of different jobs before becoming an author and illustrator, including owning a landscape gardening business, being a life-guard and a TV extra (she was once taken hostage by Daleks in 'Dr.Who'). Her first proper boss was Samantha Cameron, now of No.10 Downing St. She loves nothing more than getting all inky in the printmaking studio where she’ll often work super late, when there’s magic in the air. The mouse overcomes his fears and goes to the lion for help. Can you think of a time when you have overcome your fears? How did you feel? What was the outcome? What advice would you give to others?

Mouse is desperate to be like lion but finds out that he doesn’t need to be like lion at all, he just needs to find his own voice and have self-belief. There are delightful messages on finding courage, being brave, taking risks (mouse faces the prospect of being lion’s dinner) and chasing your dreams. And also that friendship comes in the most unlikeliest forms. In the ‘tinyful house, lived the littlest, quietest, meekest brown mouse’. Can you think of other superlatives and use them in your own sentences? Play the Sneaky Mouse Game- the lion sleeps and the mouse tries to sneak up to them and tap their nose or put their nose on the lions nose without waking the lion. If the lion hears the mouse, they have to wake up and run way because Lion is scared of mice. So mouse has to catch the lion and cuddle them or say something nice so that the Lion knows not to be scared. Rachel Bright is a wordsmith, illustrator and professional thinker of happy thoughts. She has written several books for children, including Love Monster, The Lion Inside and The Koala Who Could– winner of the Evening Standard Oscar’s Book Prize and the Sainsbury’s Book Award. Her books have sold over 300,000 copies in the UK alone and been translated into over 30 languages. She is also the creator of award-winning stationery and homewares range, The Brightside. Rachel lives on a farm near the seaside, with her partner and their two young daughters. A modern classic, The Lion Inside has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK alone and been translated into over 30 languages worldwide.Her written work includes children’s stories and poems, clever advertising copy and lots of other stuff besides. Her illustrative work is a smorgasboard of giant, hand-printed poems, mind-bogglingly detailed gouache illustrations and a cacophony of quirky prints and etchings. The mouse wants to be able to roar like a lion. Make a list of words that describe the sounds that different animals make.