From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-- Although this title seems drippingly allegorical, the story is actually honest, light, and direct. A fine collaborative effort between author and illustrator, it delivers a believable picture of a preschool boy who has a freewheeling imagination, supportive parents, asthma, and a life that works well. Playing in the bathtub, Sean is a hippo; eating broccoli, he is a giant who crunches trees between his teeth. During an attach of asthma, the lion of his fantasy stops roaring and wheezes, feels tired, and wants to cry. His mother shows up with a nebulizer, but Sean is the one who turns it on, and as he breathes deeply, he becomes a jet pilot. Wescott's clean-looking watercolor-and-ink illustrations take the story's action to places where text would have been limiting, and capture the positive feeling London's tone demands. A preliminary note is frank and encouraging. The expression of relaxation as an important tool for managing illness, and the emphasis on the value of children's natural imagination is simple, strong, and empowering. London also introduces some basic information and terminology. --Liza Bliss, formerly at Leominster Public Library, MACopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
``Sean is a lion roaring in the jungle...At suppertime, he's a GIANT munching trees.'' Each double spread shows a lively little boy at the left (the trees are broccoli) and the vibrant creature he imagines himself to be at the right. When Sean begins to cough, the lion looks doleful and mystified, ``tired and a little bit frightened.'' But Sean's special treatment (medicine administered with a nebulizer, as a note for parents explains) sets him free by letting him breathe; now he's a jet pilot, who flies back to the jungle and becomes a lion again. For children who have asthma, or know someone who has it, this cheerful book should be reassuring; creative enough to be fun, it's still clear enough to be useful, while Sean's calm, sensible parents set a fine example. Westcott's colorful, lightly sketched illustrations deftly express Sean's feelings through his own body language and that of his animal friends. (Picture book. 2-7) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Card catalog description
Sean's nebulizer mask and his imagination aid in his recovery following an asthma attack. Includes information on childhood asthma and how to control its symptoms.

ANNOTATION

Sean's nebulizer mask and his imagination aid in his recovery following an asthma attack. Includes information on childhood asthma and how to control its symptoms.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Sean's nebulizer mask and his imagination aid in his recovery following an asthma attack. Includes information on childhood asthma and how to control its symptoms.

FROM THE CRITICS

School Library Journal