Reviews

Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett

jess_mango's review

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4.0

Quote from my 8 year old “that book was very weird, but I liked it”

xsleepyshadows's review

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2.0

Two of my favorites, but I thought the book was missing a little something to tie all the elements together. Maybe it was the art style in this particular book? I loved the idea of mix media to distinguish the people from the characters and setting on a stage was genius. Really fun!

jmitschke's review

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5.0

This was hilarious (and funny on different levels for kids and adults)! I loved the combination of different art styles. And I loved the dialogue between the creators and it's role in the narrative.

kristenremenar's review

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5.0

Love how the author and illustrator insert themselves into this story! Pair with the Chester books by Melanie Watt, or The Three Pigs by David Wiesner.

amelia_herring's review

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5.0

Made me laugh out loud! Great lesson on authors and illustrators, too.

deemazztan's review

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5.0

This book is outstanding. Reading it to 3rd thru 5th. Students love it, and I had two teachers laughing and giggling throughout.

kelleemoye's review

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5.0

Such a meta book! Love it!
Read by the author on IG Live

bookgirl4ever's review

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4.0

Author and illustrator of the book have some artistic disagreements, which end in Adam Rex being swallowed by the lion. The illustrations relating to Chloe's story take place on a stage while Mac and Adam (who are introduced on the title page and verso) have their exchanges. A clever postmodern story for middle grades.

barbarianlibarian's review

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2.0

didn't love it

beths0103's review

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4.0

When the author and illustrator fight over what happens in the story, what do you suppose is the result? This wacky, mad-cap picture book, Chloe and the Lion. The book begins innocently enough: with Chloe wanting to ride the carousel and then getting lost in the forest. But as you continue to read, you quickly realize that this story isn't about Chloe at all. Adam and Mac's argument over creative license soon takes over the entire book and Chloe's dilemma gets put on the backburner.

This is one of those books that will benefit kids by rereading it to them. Even my sixth graders, who are more sophisticated readers than the primary crowd this book is written for, asked me to read it to them a second time because they were so confused by some of the things that were happening in the story (the idea of a meta-story is a new concept to them).


Still, once we discussed everything that was going on (the story within a story), kids started to see the humor and got into quoting certain parts of the book (they especially loved the motif of telling the author, "A dragon would be so much cooler").

This would be a great book to talk about the concept of allusion with students because there are instances where Chloe encounters characters and situations from other works of classic literature, and I was surprised at how much my kids knew what they were when I asked them about it.