The Lion Inside

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A feel-good rhyming story about one little mouse trying to make himself heard and discovering along the way that even the smallest of us has the heart of a lion.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Look at the front cover and discuss what the story might be about. What do the title and cover illustrations tell us? Does the description on the back cover give more information?
• Think of words / phrases to describe the mouse, the lion and the settings in this story. Look through the text to find words and phrases that the author uses.
• Find examples of rhyming words throughout the book and use them to create your own rhyming dictionary.
• Retell the story from the mouse’s point of view.
• The mouse wants to be able to roar like a lion. Make a list of words that describe the sounds that different animals make.
• Create a set of instructions to teach the mouse how to roar.
• Think of some speech / thought bubbles for the characters in the illustrations.
• 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?
• Can you write your own story about two animals that become unlikely friends?
• In the ‘tinyful house, lived the littlest, quietest, meekest brown mouse’. Can you think of other superlatives and use them in your own sentences?
• Write about a new adventure that the mouse and lion can have together.

Science

• Create a food chain that includes some of the creatures in the illustrations.
• Investigate how the animals in the illustrations use camouflage to protect them from predators.

Computing

• Create an animated version of this story.
• Record an audio (or a video) advert to promote this book.

Design Technology

• Create some animal puppets and use them to retell the story.

Art

• Draw an illustration to show what the inside of the mouse’s ‘tinyful’ house looks like.
• 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?
• Look at the illustrator’s website and read his description of the evolution of the mouse character.

PSHE

• The mouse is so tiny that nobody ever notices him. How do you think this makes him feel?
• 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?
• The mouse realises that “if you want things to change, you first have to change YOU.” What does this mean?
• The lion is the ‘head of the pack’. Think about the people who are important in your life. Why are they important?
• The lion impresses all of the other animals. Think of somebody who impresses you. How could you impress someone?