Jim's Lion

By Russell Hoban

Illustrated by Alexis Deacon

Alexis Deacon, brilliant illustrator of Russell Hoban's final masterpiece, Soonchild, now reimagines Russell's touching story about a boy in hospital, who dreams wild and extraordinary dreams as he faces a life-saving operation.

Jim is in hospital. He’s frightened. What if the doctors send him somewhere that he can't find his way back from? Nurse Bami tells Jim that he must go to his "good place" and there, his "finder" will come looking for him. Everyone has a finder. And so, deep in Jim’s dreams, he finds his: a lion. In Soonchild, Russell Hoban’s final piece of fiction before he died, Alexis Deacon met the spirit and wit of Hoban's vision head-on – brilliantly capturing the dark magic that lay at the heart of this fable. Since then, it feels almost impossible to imagine a better match for Hoban’s words than Alexis’ art.

Categories: Fiction

For readers aged: 7+

  • Publication details:
  • Format: Hardback
  • ISBN: 9781406346022
  • Published: 05 Jun 2014
  • Price: £9.99
  •  
  • Size: 229 x 152 mm
  • Pages: 84

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Customer reviews

Reviews

'This has been given a new lease of life by Deacon’s inspired pictures' Bookseller

'Absolutely mesmerizing' The Bookseller

'Wonderful, trippy . . . a new version of an old story captivates' The Times, Children’s Book of the Week

'A masterpiece . . . jaw-dropping. It makes me think this as less of a book, more of a cultural artefact, a piece of who and what we are, about who and what we are. If I have to call it merely a book, I assume at this midway point that it's my book of the year. Thanks Lion, thanks Jim, thanks Russell Hoban, and thank you Alexis Deacon' The Book Bag

'The superlative illustrator Alexis Deacon has taken the raw materials of a touching story by Russell Hoban and woven around it an astonishing, wordless graphic novel . . . a slim marvel' The Sunday Times

'Poignant and life-affirming . . . the talents of writer and illustrator magically combine to trace a little boy’s dreams and nightmares . . . the story’s moments of doubt and darkness are magnificently caught in the symbolism of Deacon’s haunting illustrations' Irish Times

'A captivating words-and-pictures book full of courage and succour about a boy in hospital. . . . illustrated by Alexis Deacon with great intensity. . . this is no pussyfoot but a peek into the rough and tumble of the subconscious' Observer

'Deacon creates an intensely evocative dreamscape for sophisticated thinkers who might otherwise struggle with the words alone' The Telegraph Magazine

'The writing is marvellous, yet sparse and Deacon has created from it a haunting David Lynchian graphic novel . . . hugely moving and hypnotics, it’s a book that makes you stop and stare' The Glasgow Herald

'A stunning illustrated hardback, this looks a real treat. Part graphic novel, part story, it has a wonderful, classic, dreamlike quality.' WRD magazine

'There are times you hold a book and just know instinctively you are holding something sublime. This is one of those books . . . a masterpiece of illustration.' The School Librarian

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Hardback
£9.99

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