Andy and the Lion, 1939 Caldecott Honor: Combining "Fact and Fancy"

One of five Caldecott honor books in 1939, James Daugherty's Andy and the Lion takes a familiar fable and turns it into a heartwarming story about a child's dream come true. Daugherty's illustrations are fantastical but with enough realistic details to bring the story to life, making the story as much fun to "watch" as it is to read. For me, the brilliance of the book is that it works on many levels -- as a fable about kindness and gratitude, as a story about friendship, or as a testament to the power of books to ignite the imagination.

Noted children's book creator Lynd Ward summed it up well: "The book is gay [i.e., joyful] in its physical aspect where a yellow second color appears on every page and in its spirit of happy, carefree childhood, where fact and fancy combine into a world far more real than the prosaic pedestrianism of adult years" (Newbery Papers, p. 180).
 

Andy and the Lion:
A New Spin on a Familiar Tale 

Most of us are familiar with the fable about the suffering lion with a thorn in his paw who befriends the man who finally pulls it. In the original fable by Aesop, the the human is a slave names Androcles who escapes his master, where he meets the lion in the forest. After winning the animal's friendship, the two are captured, and Androcles is sentenced to death for running away -- specifically to be eaten by the lion. On the day of the execution, the lion refuses to eat his friend despite having been starved for several days; instead, the lion rejoices and licks the slave's hands. Shocked at this reaction, the emperor frees both Androcles and the lion. 

Subtitled "A Tale of Kindness Remembered or The Power of Gratitude," Andy and the Lion has a less grim context. Instead of slaves, emperors, and death sentences, we have a young boy who becomes fascinated by lions after a trip to his local library. In fact, he is so totally absorbed in reading and thinking about lions that he forgets simple, everyday things like washing behind his ears. Then, one day, he just happens to run into a lion on his way to school. After getting over the shock and confusion of this unlikely meeting, Andy sees that the lion is injured and helps him. The lion is grateful, and the two part ways -- that is until the circus comes to town. 

Andy, of course, will not miss the lion show at the circus for anything in the world, but to everyone's shock and horror, the biggest lion in the show escapes and he is in full lion fury. Chaos erupts and guards with guns rush to put down the escaped lion. Before they arrive on the scene, though, the lion rushes right up to Andy, and -- you guessed it -- recognizes his old pal! The two rejoice. Andy calls off the guards and leads the lion in a victory parade through town. The story ends with Andy and the lion together on a trip back to the library.

The story is as predictable as it is unbelievable, but like the fable that inspired it, it is ultimately shows good things happening to good characters -- and Daugherty's exuberant illustrations help us suspend our disbelief.

The "Interlocking Relationship Between Word and Picture" in Andy and the Lion

In the Biographical Note composed to honor his friend and colleague's Newbery award for Daniel Boone, Lynd Ward praises the innovation and technique that Daugherty exhibits in Andy and the Lion:

Any who are interested in the picture book technique as a form will do well to study the subtle nuances that have been worked out on these pages. The interlocking relationship between word and picture that is of the essence of this technique has here been carried several steps farther than I have seen in any other place, which is an event of importance in its own right (183).

Modern audiences might be perplexed at this praise. Compared to today's children's picture books, Andy and the Lion seems more dated that inventive with its three-color designs that typically appear every-other page. Moreover, the use of "cliffhanger" sentences  ("Andy thought he'd better be going and [. . .]) on several pages feels a bit contrived.

However, when we take the book in the context of 1938, Ward's point is much clearer. For example, take the spread where Andy pulls the dreaded thorn from the lion's paw. Here, we see the continuation of the text from the previous page (the thorn  . . . came . . . out) spread out on either side of the hyperbolic reactions of Andy and the lion to the action. The scene could easily appear in a picture book of today -- and nothing like it appears in the Caldecott books of the previous year.

Another thing to notice the picture above is the movement; both Andy and the lion seem as if they will bounce of the page. Similarly, when the two meet and are chasing each other in confusion, Daugherty accurately captures the frenetic movement behind the lines "Whichever way that Andy ran -- there was the lion. Whichever way the lion ran -- there was Andy." In fact, we see in this picture a technique similar to what appears in cartoons even today:

One of my favorite things about the illustrations in this book is how Daugherty visualizes Andy's dreams. In the pictures below, we see Andy in the middle of the night, fully surrounded by his dreams about lions. On the right, the dream lion jumps behind the bed, while the sun smirks in the window. It's a humorous and fanciful depiction of waking up -- and yet it also captures something very true about the process for all of us. (I know that I have irrationally lashed out at my alarm as if it must feel some sort of spiteful glee interrupting my slumber...)

The pictures not only enliven the text here but also reinforce the metaphoric language Daugherty uses to describe the end of the dream ("the lions left").

Daugherty's Blending of "Fact and Fancy" in
Andy and the Lion

While Daugherty's play with text and depiction of movement and imagination are among his top innovations in Andy and the Lion, it's the realistic details that he includes in each picture that ground the story. Among the best example of this are the expressions on the faces around the dinner table as Andy refuses to stop reading. The parents' outrage and annoyance is palpable but undercut by the oblivious glee that the baby exudes -- as well as the complete apathy of the sleeping dog who is obviously used to these family discussions. Meanwhile, Andy's pose, with his face almost on the page and his haphazard grasp on the fork, perfectly captures an engrossed reader:

This scene could be almost anyone's dinner table.

However, what really makes the illustrations magical for me is how Daugherty combines "fact and fancy" and Ward put it. A great example of this is on one of the front end papers depicting Andy reading with the lion at his feet. Despite the fact that we are seeing a boy with a pet lion, everything about the scene feels natural and normal:

May favorite example from the story is when Andy and the lion are reunited. I mean, I doubt that I will ever see a lion embrace a boy lovingly, but if I do, I am pretty sure that it will look like this:

The expressions and poses on both characters are perfection, and you can feel them dancing and spinning with joy.

A final example of this "fact and fancy" blending that I was to share is the spread introducing Part Two of the book. Here, Daugherty includes so many realistic natural details in the flora and fauna of the forest but in an almost surrealistic manner -- and the scene almost jumps off the page, both bursting with life and exciting our imagination. Like the forest animals on the left, we want to gaze ahead and see what happens next:

Reflecting on Andy and the Lion

On its Andy and the Lion story is a fun dream-come-true tale: A boy gets the lion of his dreams. It is also, as its subtitle suggests, story showing the rewards of kindness and gratitude -- and of course, it also reads as a classic story about true friendship, even between unlikely pairs.

However, I also think that you can see the book as a tribute to the power of books. After all, as the story opens, Andy us obsessively reading about lions and right before the main action, all that he read is swimming around in his brain. Perhaps the tale is what he imagines happening as he goes through his day -- and a testament to how much more magical our lives are thanks to the books that we read.

While I don't think it's necessary to read into the book so much, there are some details that make me think it's worth putting forth this second interpretation. First, the predominance of the library in the book is important, I think. The opening page dedicates the story to the lions outside the New York Public Library, and the story begins and ends with Andy going to the library. 

The emphasis on the library is interesting because it is not really necessary to the story: Andy could just as easily have been a kid who liked lions because of his grandfather's old hunting stories or because of a story he heard in school. So why include it in this tale about "the power of gratitude"?

I think the answer is found in James Daugherty's Newbery Acceptance Speech for Daniel Boone. Thanking the American Library Association for the award, he discusses the significance of libraries and librarians in his own life:

I always have a feeling of receiving a unique personal favor when borrowing books at libraries. I say to myself, how generous is this charming person to lend me, a perfect stranger, this valuable book, this priceless treasure. Or again, when returning it long overdue, I marvel at your charity, tolerance, and consideration. It revives one's shattered faith in humanity.

Therefore, I salute you not only as a counselor, guide, and friend, but more imaginatively in your magical powers to open doors into green pastures of knowledge and delight.

Clearly, Daugherty felt a tremendous sense of gratitude for everything libraries had given him, and I think it's possible that the story is an expression of this.

See more:

• Andy and the Lion, 1939 Honor Book: Caldecott & Book Collector Notes
• James Daugherty Caldecott Honoree: An American Artist of His Time
• Gillespie and the Guards, 1957 Caldecott Honor: A Lasting Impression