“Keep me company on the way home,” a girl says to a big, thickly maned lion. The lion does as she makes the long journey by foot to the outskirts of the large city where she lives. She imagines herself riding on the lion’s back. She picks up a younger sibling at child care and stops at the store “that won’t give us credit anymore” for food, inviting the lion to eat the meal she prepares. She tells the lion he can wait until “Mama gets home from the factory,” or return to the hills. “But then come back when I call.” Against a somber backdrop— crowded city, spare, rundown apartment—the child finds strength and solace in imagination. There are moments of humor in the images—people around her stunned by the lion’s presence—while a final image of great poignancy shows a bedside photograph of her father, absent from her real life, with a thick mane of hair. Thoughtful and moving, this work invites both discussion about what is happening in the story and reflection on imagination and resiliency. This dynamic author/illustrator duo are from Mexico City and Bogotá and signs in the illustrations (on buses, buildings, etc.) are in Spanish. (Ages 7-10)

A young girl is accompanied by an imaginary lion on her walk home from school. The lion helps her pick up her brother from daycare, pick up groceries at the store where the family's credit has been cut, cook dinner, and waits for her mother to come home from work. A subtle book, readers will enjoy the illustrations and the underlying depth within the story.

Publisher is located in Toronto.

Author lives in Mexico City.

Spain. Originally published in Spain as Camino a casa by Fondo de Cultura Económica in 2008. English translation by Elisa Amado published by Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press in 2017.

A simple, imaginative story depicting the complex emotional reality of a girl whose father no longer lives at home.

The girl conjures up an imaginary companion — a lion — who will join her on the long walk home from school. He will help her to pick up her baby brother from daycare and shop at the store (which has cut off the family’s credit), and he’ll keep her company all along the way until she is safely home. He will always come back when she needs him, unlike her father whom she sees only in a photograph — a photograph in which he clearly resembles a lion.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.