Randy's Dandy Lions

by Bill Peet

Randy's dandy lions suffer from "cage fright" and are unable to perform their tricks for the circus audience.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, 1st Grade, Animals, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Bill Peet was an American children's book illustrator and a story writer for Disney Studios. He joined Disney in 1937 and worked on The Jungle Book, Song of the South, Cinderella, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, Goliath II, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Three Caballeros, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and other stories.

After successes developing short stories for Disney, Peet had his first book published, Hubert's Hair Raising Adventure.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill sets this story in a circus about a bunch of lions. The gag is lions are supposed to be fierce and frightening and these 5 circus lions all get stage fright or cage fright so they don't do anything in their act and the audience is bored and boos them. The lion tamer is a nice guy and won't hurt them. He gets demoted to cleaning the elephants and they hire a mean lion tamer. He whips them and threatens then in performance and the lions simply are terrified. They spend the whole night roaring, which is funny to me. None of the people can sleep. The next day almost everyone is too tired to preform. The show for the day is a bust but the thing that happens is the lions lose their cage fright and the nice lion tamer gets his job back and the act is amazing.

We all know that I'm a huge fan of Bill Peet and this book is no exception. These lions crack me up and I think this whole thing is strangely hilarious. The artwork is easily recognizable as Bill Peet. His story is cute and funny.

The nephew loved this story. He thought the lions being afraid of perform was funny and they made him laugh. When all the circus people were so tired, that tickled him too. He thought this would make a good short cartoon that he has been watching on Disney +. He gave this 4 stars.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this childhood favorite to my boy for the first time tonight and the sparkle in his eyes and the smile on his face and the laughter in his voice as we talked about the wonderful illustrations... well, it was simply magical.

A dozen and a half Bill Peet books were in my online shopping cart mere moments after tuck-in time, and they are worth their weight in gold.

5 stars.

~

Encore performance the next day for Thing 2, my daughter, who needed to be corralled in the early a.m. She's younger so we did a reduced version, fewer words and more time exploring the drawings. Peet is a straight-up master illustrator, and it was especially fun for me to spot the cameos from his other circus-set books. (Hi, Ella! Hi, Chester the Worldly Pig!)

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Randy’s Dandy Lions” is another classic book from the creative mind of Bill Peet about how Randy’s lions always had stage fright but they realized that there are things far scarier than stage fright. “Randy’s Dandy Lions” is a superb book about friendship that children will enjoy for many years.

Bill Peet has done it again with his brilliant illustrations and witty writing. Bill Peet’s writing is cleverly written in a rhyming prose, making this story similar to Dr. Seuss’ children’s books, thus making the story extremely creative to read as children will have fun putting the rhyming words together. Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful as usual in this book, especially in the images of the lions performing on stage as the lions are innocent looking yet also look a bit cowardly and scraggly, which fit the situation that the lions were in perfectly.



Parents should know that the new trainer that he Colonel hires to replace Randy may frighten smaller children, especially during the scenes where the new trainer starts whipping the lions relentlessly. Parents might want to tell their children that it is not good to mistreat pets in this manner and that one should not use brute force to get what he or she wants.

“Randy’s Dandy Lions” is another great classic from the brilliant mind of Bill Peet and will surely attract many children who are fans of Bill Peet’s marvelous work. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be frightened by the new trainer who comes later on in the book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Kena Kump · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, lions appeal to me, and I felt similar to the lions in this book in a metaphorical way in my own life. I don't know if I should go into detail but basically, when the education department "cracked their whips" (metaphorically the trainers) at me (the lions) they expected me not to roar? For when the lions in the book roared they put them away until they finally took them out, because only they could light up the show. However, one unrealistic part is that in a real circus they would never have 9 lions in a cage! If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would!

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

of course, wild animals should not longer be in the circus, or in zoos for that matter, we know better than that.

this is well written, i like the rhymes, i like that the bad guy got fired, but worse should have happened to them.

the elephant slaves and the lion slaves continue to be slaves in the circus, and if you read this to your kids one should make this point. again, no wild animals should be in the circus

[Sterrett Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Gabriel] The story is long and easy to follow, but the rhyming is so sophisticated that it's hard to know what you're saying. I messed up a couple times when I was trying to rhyme. 3 stars

[Jacob] I liked the illustrations. 3 stars

[Matthew] I was sad for the lions because they weren't there at the circus, because they were going to bed. 2 stars

[Daniel] My favorite part was when the lions were hanging around the hook. 5 stars

Read aloud by Gabriel on 1/9/13

[Kathryn Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read this book in YEARS, but it was my favorite book to check out from the library when I was a little girl. It's not published anymore. Maybe I'll buy a used one somewhere so my kids can enjoy this fun book about circus lions with stage fright.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightful Bill Peet story. Randy the Lion Tamer is ever so nice, but his lions suffer from cage fright, and won't perform their tricks. What will happen when the ringmaster fires Randy and hires a new, tougher lion tamer.
Such a great story. Loved it.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've included this book because it was a big favorite at our house when my kids were little. My oldest son really loved this story!

[Keith Bowden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorite Peet books, but even an arguably "lesser" Peet is really good stuff.

[Terryann Saint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all his work.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another circus story from Bill Peet. Slow to start, the ending is satisfying but the "new" lion tamer and elephants "half-drowning" the lions were a bit disturbing.

[Sorcha O'Dowd · Rating 5 out of 5]

These illustrations are gorgeous! 😍

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We enjoy Bill Peet. This is a old favorite.

[spookybelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Otherwise known as, "Why We Don't Have Circuses Anymore: A Tale of Animal Abuse and How Torture Builds Character."

[Jean Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Bill Peet book. Very rereadable which is very important for a children's book.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun one from Bill Peet. The Lions in the circus all have stage fright, so the circus manager hires a vicious lion tamer to toughen them up. I enjoy the plots in this author's books.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story about both what seems bad can be worse and using gentleness to help others be their best.

[Annburnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love reading Bill Peet books. They are cute and have a story. Love the book!

[Laura Lynn Cobb]

This story is so fun to read! It is told in rhyme and has wonderful illustrations. The characters made me mad, sad, and at last very glad!

[Rhett Baerlocher]

Illustrations- Drawings

Randy;s lions are to scared to do their tricks in front of anyone. The man in charge of the curious fired the lion tamer because the lions were to scared. They switch lion tamers and the second one was really scary and would whip the lions. The lion did not like this so they stayed up all night making noise so no-one could sleep and the curious couldn't go now the new day. The lion go Randy back and were not afraid to do their tricky anymore because they like randy.