Reviews
& Testimonials
'Unconditional love emanates from every page of this
delightful story. The main character is Shanti, a lion who, after
being rescued as a cub and raised by people in a small village in
India, chooses not to eat meat in order to prove his love for them.
Shanti who in the story has a special relationship with the “Creator
of the Universe,” becomes a spiritual leader to all who come
into contact with him.
'The narrative, essentially a modern
day fable which resonates across religions and cultures, provides
adventure and excitement; there are goodies and baddies, and humor
too (mostly provided by the antics of Shanti’s rat friend,
Manik).
'The children in the story respond
to Shanti’s wisdom and achieve some wonderful things, which
in their turn may prove inspirational to young readers. Early in
the story, helping an old widow harvest her crop is turned by Shanti
into a game. Later on, he saves the life of the money-lender who
has been trying to kill him. There is plenty of scepticism too:
when a boy called Nanda tries to get his friend Mohan involved in
his plans to take food from the town back to everybody in his village,
as suggested by Shanti in a dream, Mohan scoffs, “Don’t
be silly; even if there was such a thing as a grass-eating lion,
and he could talk to you in dreams, how can we feed hundreds of
people? We are just two small boys.’ But love and faith together,
as we learn from this fable, can work miracles...
'Sinclair both wrote and illustrated
the book to raise funds for the Shanti Lion Children’s Trust,
whose work at present is mainly based in India. Details of “Shanti’s
vision” is given in an afterword. One of the organisation’s
aims is for young people to become involved in Action Clubs to make
a difference, starting from within their own communities. Sinclair
neatly includes an Action Club in his narrative, which should prove
inspirational - be ready for clamours of “Can we do that?”
'This is definitely a book for sharing,
whether as a family or a class. It would lend itself particularly
well to being an RE resource, for its spiritual message resonates
loud and clear, whatever one’s religious persuasion.'
Marjorie
Coughlan, PaperTigers.org
See
the original review on the PaperTigers website
See
also Marjorie's blog entry Books at Bedtime at PaperTigers through
this link.
'A gem. If you only read one more book this year, read this and
give it to the children and young people in your life...True story
or modern fable, the values are eternal and life enhancing. Making
a distinction between friend and enemy doesn't lead anywhere.'
Lifescape
Magazine
See
the original Lifescape Magazine review page
A Roaring Good Read
Paul Sinclair's Shanti the Grass-eating Lion is an excellent
modern-day fable that will appeal to children and parents alike.
The story follows Shanti the talking Lion and the adventures he
has with the rural Indian children. The book contains an underlying
theme of encouraging children to develop good, moral characters
and a greater appreciation of the world.
All profits from the book will go to the Shanti Lion Children's
Trust's dedicated work to providing orphanages across the world
and the rehabilitation of child slaves and soldiers.
Yoga
Magazine
See
the original Yoga Magazine review page
'I LOVED your book. I read it in one sitting and it was so beautiful
it made me cry. I have given it to my Elementary teacher in our
Montessori school to read to her 8 to 11 years olds.
Sheila O'Neill, Principal
of St. Andrew's Montessori School
'...We loved, loved, loved it.
I had to keep hesitating as I read aloud to my family because I
was on the edge of crying! We loved him so much.'
Lotah, Australia
'...In the end I couldn`t put it down
and I particularly liked the ending, which to me is really the beginning.
I was, and still am, inspired.'
Michael Williams, College
of Teachers, The Waldorf School of South West London
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