Nani and the Lion

From Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award winner Alicia D. Williams comes a rhythmic picture book about an irrepressible little drummer determined to outwit the grumpy, noise-hating Lion.

Nani loves to drum. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. Her music captures the sounds of life, rustles the forest leaves, rouses all the critters, and never fails to get the villagers up and dancing, dancing, dancing. But one day, they’re too scared to dance. Lion, king of the land, has outlawed noisemaking of any kind. The villagers beg her to stay quiet.

Nani’s heart pounds with fear, but her love for drumming beats more loudly. To keep playing her music and bringing joy to her village, Nani must stand up to the biggest bully around armed with only courage, quick thinking, and her drum.

About the author

Alicia D. Williams is the author of Mid-Air, which was longlisted for the National Book Award; Genesis Begins Again, which received Newbery and Kirkus Prize honors, was a William C. Morris Award finalist, and for which she won the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent; and picture books Jump at the Sun, Nani and the Lion, and The Talk, which was also a Coretta Scott King Honor book. An oral storyteller in the African American tradition, she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Anna Cunha is a Brazilian illustrator, living and working in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She has illustrated more than twenty books for Brazilian and foreign publishers, been nominated for the 2022 Kate Greenaway Medal, and won the AEILIJ Prize for her work. She is the illustrator of Fly by Brittany J. Thurman and Nani and the Lion by Alicia D. Williams.

Product details

• Authors: Alicia D Williams, Alicia D. Williams
• Assisted by: Anna Cunha (Illustration)
• Publisher: Harper Collins
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 4 to 8
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.02.2026
• EAN: 9781665914222
• ISBN: 978-1-6659-1422-2
• No. of pages: 40
• Dimensions: 279 mm x 254 mm x 3 mm
• Illustrations: f-c jkt (sfx: emboss + spot gloss on matte lam)+int. ill.; digital
• Subjects: Education and learning > Schoolbooks, general education schools; JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Jungle Animals, JUVENILE FICTION / Legends, Myths, Fables / African, Animal stories (Children's / Teenage), Children’s picture books, Picture books