Hello fellow Baffled Ones. Here you see Gavin (with bowtie) with Lionel The Lion and Koala (with cute ears) and other Ozzy friends (with cuteness).
They were looking at books one day, as stuffies do, when no one is looking. Lionel asked “Where is this place in the pictures?”
Koala, Echnida and Platypus sighed. But Lionel spent a lot of time in Big Bedroom and perhaps he really didn’t know. Gavin replied, ” Right here, Lionel, where we are. It’s Oz-tray-ya.”*
Lionel was astonished. He always had thought he lived in Big BedRoom where he likes to lolls about keeping guard, or so he says. The truth is that Lionel ‘keeps guard’ with both eyes closed most of the time. Even so, it is reassuring to have a guard Lion in the house.
His friends showed him pictures of the Oz-tral-yan animals: koalas, echidnas and platypus- just like the ones sitting with Lionel. “Goodness me”, said Lionel, looking at his friends anew. “I never knew that.”
There was a picture of the Tasmanian Devil. It looked ferocious. Lionel always imagined himself as ferocious too but was usually too sleepy to attempt it. He was impressed by the Tasmanian Devil. Gavin explained that there had been other ferocious creatures too but they were now ‘extinct’.
And then it happened, the thing that changed Lionel’s sleepy life. Gavin showed him a picture of the extinct Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger.
“Tigers!” cried Lionel. “There were once tigers! But what about lions, Gavin? Perhaps there were also Tasmanian Lions! Just think. They could have been my fore-bears. I mean my fore-tigers. Or even my fore-lions.”
They had never seen Lionel so excited. They all tried to explain to him that, being a lion, he had no forebears or fore-tigers or fore-lions in Oz-tral-ya. But he was transfixed by the notion. He made a Plan.
What was wide-awake Lionel’s Plan? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of …. da da dah daaaaaah dummmm .. Lionel The Lion Seeks His Fore-Lions.
Mawson Guardian Says: Gavin and Lionel live in Mawson Bear’s House in Oz-Stral-Ya (*Australia). Mawson writes little books full of muddles , bafflements, and even some accidental wisdom.
Where to find Mawson’s Books: Our publisher is OdysseyBooks where you can find fun and beautiful books with pictures for grownups. And our books are at Amazon everywhere, including at Amazon India, and at Amazon Australia (where Mawson Lives), Amazon UK and Amazon France, among others.
By the way, the Guardian also feels reassured knowing there is a guard lion in the house. Even a sleepy one.
You have wandered into Mawson Bear’s web-den. Mawson is a Ponderer of Baffling Things (between naps) and the Writer-Bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and Dreamy Days and Random Naps and She Ran Away From Love.
Mawson Bear 