Poor Lionel. He’s so big and strange-looking that no-one will be his friend. That is until a little dog appears and entices him to play. The two start to have great times together and Lionel is finally happy. But then he sees a poster with his new friend on it. The dog has been lost and Lionel knows he must take it home, however sad it will make him feel. When the little girl owner sees Lionel she is terrified, but when her dog goes over to lick the monster, she realises that he is the one who has brought her pet back. She too then becomes Lionel’s friend. With a message that we should not judge by appearances, this is a story to be enjoyed and learned from.
Pam Dowson
Oxford University Press ISBN 9780192773692 £6.99
