"The Lion King", by Don Ferguson, is a book about a young lion named Simba who goes from infant to adulthood, and the trials and tribulations he faces. The story begins with a huge celebration of Simba's birth throughout the land. It quickly progresses to when he's a cub and learns that he is the future king of the land. He goes out exploring past where his father gives him permission to and finds himself in a predicament, surrounded by 3 hyenas. His father bounds in and scares them away and warns Simba to never go past where the boundaries are. Some time after that, Simba and Mufasa are walking together and unbeknownst to them, Scar had arranged for a stampede through the valley they were walking in. Simba and Mufasa got separated and Mufasa did everything in his power to save Simba from being trampled by the herd. In doing so, Mufasa was killed. Scar made Simba feel it was his fault and warned him that he should leave and never return. Simba listened to his uncle's advice and left. He wandered until he collapsed and Timon and Pumba found him lying in the desert. The nursed him back to health and became his best, and only friends. He grew up with them. A few months later, Nala had gone searching for food for the herd. In doing so, she stumbled upon Simba. She didn't recognize him at first but after being with him a while she figured out who he was. She asked Simba to return to Pride Rock with her to fix the mess that Scar had created as ruler. Hesitantly, Simba agreed. Simba, Nala, Timon and Pumba all headed back to the land that had been destroyed by Scar. When Scar saw Simba he felt threatened and tried to push him off the cliff. While he was doing that, he said "this is how I killed your father". Simba then realized his father's death wasn not his fault. He fought Scar to Scar's death. Simba took over the leadership role he was born for.
Simba is a young lion in the beginning who finds out he's the future king. Mufasa is the father of Simba and the king of the land. Scar is the evil uncle of Simba. Zazu is a bird who is Mufasa's right hand man. Sarabi is Simba's mother. Nala is another lion cub about the same age who becomes Simba's best friend. Timon is a meerkat who finds and befriends Simba. Pumba is a warthog who is Timon's closest friend.
The story takes place in the dusty African plain, on and around Pride Rock. During the course of a about a year that it takes him to go from a cub to a adult lion.
What I took away from this book is "What goes around comes around". I also learned that running from your problems doesn't fix them and may not always be the best solution.
This is a book I would recommend to everyone! I really enjoyed it throughout my child hood and really enjoy it today.