"The Lion Who Had Asthma"--Jonathan London

(image from www.amazon.com)

London, Jonathan. The Lion Who Had Asthma. Ed. Abby Levine. Boston: Albert Whitman & Company, 1992.

Jonathan London begins this book by providing a note about asthma for parents in the beginning. He writes that his son, Sean, also has asthma, the chronic disease that affects around ten million Americans. In the note, he acknowledges how tough it is for families affected by the disease. However, the point of his book is to help people see that with imagination, asthma is not so scary. London writes of imagination, “It is not only an asset in the treatment of asthma but enhances life itself.”

“The Lion Who Had Asthma” is about a little boy named Sean. He is pretending to be all the animals in the jungle, until his breathing begins to bother him. Luckily, Sean’s mother brings him his nebulizer, which is a machine that administers Sean’s medicine to his lungs. The machine is large and scary looking, but Sean’s mother tells him to pretend he is flying an airplane. After the treatment is finished, Sean starts to play and once again is the king of the jungle.

I really enjoyed reading this story. For one, the illustrations are wonderful. On the left side, there is a picture of Sean and the text of what he is doing. On the right side, there is a picture of the jungle and the animal that Sean is imitating. As Sean’s breathing begins to become difficult, the big, colorful pictures disappear until Sean is doing his breathing treatment. By having the pictures colorful and coinciding with the text, children will appreciate the story more. Another thing I liked about this story was how the author handled asthma. He explains it in simple terms, so that children can understand the disease. London also acknowledges how a child with asthma might feel, by saying, “The lion feels tired and a little bit frightened. He feels like crying” (11). Asthma can be scary for children, and that is why I love the choice of words London uses. When Sean’s mom brings out the nebulizer, Sean becomes scared and cries. But with his mom’s prompting, Sean uses his imagination and turns the scary situation into something enjoyable. Suddenly, a frightening experience becomes fun. A third thing London does is show outsiders that children with asthma are not any different than the average child. Like everyone else, the boy in the story has a loving family. He plays with toys and uses his imagination. Most of all, Sean has the same feelings as everyone else. If an outsider saw the nebulizer, they might get scared and uncomfortable. London shows that Sean, too, is frightened. This allows all children to connect with him on a personal level.

Overall, “The Lion Who Had Asthma” is a wonderful tool for all individuals. Insiders, or children who have asthma, can relate to the main character. They relate to Sean as they see him become scared when his asthma is acting up. But children can also see that Sean uses his imagination, and suddenly it is not so scary anymore. On the other hand, outsiders (those without asthma) will see that children who have asthma are the same as anyone else. It also subtly explains what asthma is, but the terms London uses are so simple that everyone can understand.