THE LION'S OWN STORY

"You're silly for paying any attention to me." This line comes on the last page of Crockett Johnson's most disappointing of his usually good to excellent efforts, and we use it as comment on the whole book. A stuffed lion comes to life and speaks stuffily to Ellen, the nursery school-aged girl who owns him. Her imagination soars while his remains at sea level, and the two cancel each other cut to a sum of "cute".