The Red Lion is Diana Wolkstein's retelling of an ancient Persian tale, likely a Sufi teaching tale. The illustrations are in a Persian style that well suits the text.

The King dies; before he can ascend the throne, the prince must fight a lion. Because he is afraid of lions, he flees. He enjoys the hospitality of a shepherd until he realizes that he might face lions. He enjoys the hospitality of a desert group until he realizes that he might face lions. He enjoys the hospitality of a city - where he finds his bride - only to be faced with lions. Realizing that there is no choice, he returns hope to face the lion - a friendly lion unless one fears him.

The story is told by a master storyteller who has the sense to trust the story; there is no overtly didactic language.

As a teacher, I like to use this book when dealing with issues of fear. This book tells in story form what can happen when we run from our fears and what happens when we meet them head-on. Middle age school children really like this story and with some explanation before hand, older Preschool children want it read to them over and over again. A delightful book, for Preschool children dealing with fear is "What Was That", about three bears and the noises they hear as they're falling asleep. Using different voices for the characters when reading it to them makes it really wonderful. Sorry I don't remember the author. Ask Amazon.com for that.