“In this powerful illustrated fable for older picture book readers, Achebe, the celebrated Nigerian writer, offers a parable about how power corrupts.” — The New York Times Book Review In the beginning, all the animals lived as friends. Their leopard king was strong but gentle and wise. Only Dog had sharp teeth and lived as an outsider before attacking the leopard and taking over as king — until the angry leopard returned to regain his throne by force with his own threatening new claws. In a riveting fable for young readers about the potency and dangers of power taken by force, Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, evokes his frequent themes of liberation and justice. Glowing with vibrant color, Mary GrandPré’s expressive and action-filled paintings bring the unforgettable tale to dramatic life.
About How the Leopard Got His Claws
From Chinua Achebe, father of modern African literature, comes a vivid fable about power and freedom.
In the beginning, all the animals lived as friends. Their king, the leopard, was strong but gentle and wise. Only Dog had sharp teeth, and only he scoffed at the other animals’ plan to build a common shelter for resting out of the rain. But when Dog is flooded out of his own cave, he attacks the leopard and takes over as king. And it is then, after visiting the blacksmith’s forge and knocking on Thunder’s door, that the angry leopard returns to regain his throne by the menace of his own threatening new claws. In a riveting fable for young readers about the potency and dangers of power taken by force, Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, evokes themes of liberation and justice that echo his seminal novels about post-colonial Africa. Glowing with vibrant color, Mary GrandPré’s expressive and action filled paintings bring this unforgettable tale to dramatic life.
