I am a lioness

Prolific South Korean author/artist Kyung gloriously highlights and celebrates leonine matriarchy. "Prides are usually made up of lionesses, their cubs, and one to a few adult male lions," the titular lioness explains. The savannah can be a dangerous place, and living together means "safety in numbers." Our narrator is pregnant and knows her "babies need food to grow." She dispatches prey with strength and skills she learned from her own mother, who was "a great hunter." No matter how much prey the lions take down, the food is shared with the whole pride. Motherhood means the lionesses must work even more closely, raising the cubs together, sharing their milk, and hunting in turns. The lioness teaches her growing cubs "everything," just as her mother taught her. Teamwork ensures survival: "We are mothers, we are hunters, we are protectors, we are teachers. And we are strong." Kyung's text, efficiently translated by Shin, provides an informative overview, complete with an appended page of further facts. The expansive spreads are what stand out, created in paint and pencil on traditional Korean handmade paper. Kyung leaves the realistic backgrounds in black and white, enhancing only the lionesses in rich, golden tones, artfully highlighting their essential authority. Though the hunts are sensitively portrayed, younger readers should be warned that hunting inevitably leads to killing. A glorious reminder that the lion may be known as the king of the animal kingdom, but true power belongs to the lioness.(Informational picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.