THERE IN THE BRAMBLES

In Hyslop’s illustrated children’s book, a lost lamb must learn to embrace the love and protection of a mighty lion.

Hiding under brambles in a cold, dark forest at night, the lamb Nora huddles in fear of grotesque, howling wolves. Meanwhile, in the calm, joyous light of day, Nathaniel, another lamb (who bears a pink paw-print on his fleece), walks protected in the footsteps of a gently authoritarian lion who is graced with capitalized pronouns and explicitly identified in the book’s endnotes as a representative of Jesus Christ. Nathaniel tells Nora of the lion and invites her to be saved by him. Nora enters the daylight, and is seen now carrying a pink paw-print of her own. However, doubts about her own worth soon assail her, and she runs away back to the dark forest. As the wolves close in, Nathaniel and the lion come to her rescue. While Nathaniel whispers reassurances to Nora, the lion fights off the wolves. Hyslop writes in verse, offering a consistent rhythm and mostly unforced rhymes (“You have value, and you’re worthy of this love you’ve just been shown. / We will fight for you whenever you are scared and all alone”). For readers with a Christian upbringing, the story’s imagery should prove easy to unpack and relatable to their own lives—such associations are further encouraged by the author’s endnotes and learning activity “reflections.” That said, the tale doesn’t really stand on its own narrative merits; references to the “lies” that occupy Nora’s thoughts, and her decision to leave Nathaniel and the lion to resume being hunted by the wolves, have no grounding in a literal telling. The book is rendered visually resplendent, across 11 double-page spreads, by Jasiński’s rich digital illustrations—most notably in the slit-eyed, fanged wolves, the dark uncertainties of the forest, and the soft-hued, crystalline trees and exquisite golden haze of the grasslands where the lion rules. While the lion and the two lambs might initially draw the reader’s attention, the stunning backdrops truly bring the tale to life.

A strikingly rendered Christian allegory that doesn’t fully succeed as a story.