The Lion Above the Door
- Downloads：6731
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-10-16 11:16:02
- Update Date：2025-09-24
- Status：finish
- Author：Onjali Q. Raúf
- ISBN：1510106758
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Reviews
Frances
，
A wonderful book for older primary age children exploring racism。 It has a timely topic about the missing figures and cultures that fought in WW2， areas that are too often missing in the history curriculum taught in schools。 I loved the main characters and think lots of children will identify with Leo and Sangeeta。Thanks to netgalley， the author and publisher for an arc of this book。
Alice
，
Leo and Sangeeta stand out from their class because of their skin colour and culture – and at times they are bullied because of this。 Leo’s Dad says they need to be on their best behaviour at all times and he seems willing to tolerate the racism; the accumulated effect of prejudice leaves Leo feeling emotionally （and sometimes physically） bruised。 On a class trip an RAF museum， Leo sees pictures of heroes like the ones in the history books – no one who looks like him。 But on that same trip， he s Leo and Sangeeta stand out from their class because of their skin colour and culture – and at times they are bullied because of this。 Leo’s Dad says they need to be on their best behaviour at all times and he seems willing to tolerate the racism; the accumulated effect of prejudice leaves Leo feeling emotionally （and sometimes physically） bruised。 On a class trip an RAF museum， Leo sees pictures of heroes like the ones in the history books – no one who looks like him。 But on that same trip， he sees a commemoration stone of an RAF hero who had the exact same name as him –Leo Kai Lim。 So begins the quest to find out more about this hero and others like him。 The TV series Real Kidz Rule Remembrance Day competition seems exactly the right forum to tell these forgotten heroes’ stories。This is a powerful novel exploring courage， friendship， historical/current racism and forgotten histories。 As always with Rauf’s novels， her protagonists are interesting， determined and willing to learn。 Some of the scenes are hilarious – the accidental setting off of the flight simulator incident is superb – and other scenes will make you cry （no spoilers， but red paint and family connections around the world are involved）。This novel will also make you think carefully about ignored heroes that students should be learning about。 As a History & English teacher， I have a chance to transform the curriculum to eliminate cultural blind-spots， and to celebrate all contributions to our shared human experience。Highly recommended for Year 4+; eminently suitable as a read aloud for Year 7’s。 。。。more
BooksForTopics
，
Onjali Q Rauf's loyal fanbase will be pleased to hear of a new novel。 True to form， the Lion Above the Door explores important social issues while capturing voices from the younger generation in a most relatable manner。The story broaches the topic of cultural blindspots in history education， posing questions about the missing and ignored figures from the history topics taught in schools。 Young Leo is intrigued to find a WW2 memorial in which he recognises his own name; being of Singaporean herit Onjali Q Rauf's loyal fanbase will be pleased to hear of a new novel。 True to form， the Lion Above the Door explores important social issues while capturing voices from the younger generation in a most relatable manner。The story broaches the topic of cultural blindspots in history education， posing questions about the missing and ignored figures from the history topics taught in schools。 Young Leo is intrigued to find a WW2 memorial in which he recognises his own name; being of Singaporean heritage he has become used to rarely seeing people like himself reflected in the history books。 As Leo and his classmates research their relatives' roles in the war， important stories come to surface and it's up to the children to make sure these histories get the spotlight they deserve。This is a sincere and timely story that gently turns over themes of prejudice， cultural underrepresentation， racism and the courage to put right societal injustice - while at once holding out the mantle to young readers to invite them to be the catalyst for change。Many thanks to the publisher for sending us an early copy for review。 This book is featured on our Autumn 2021 Ones to Watch selection: https://www。booksfortopics。com/post/o。。。 。。。more
Andrew Johnston
，
This is the first of miss raids books I’ve read。 It’s fair to say I was not disappointed， it was superb and just perfectly written in。 Tone and style for y6-7 kids。 Truly heartwarming and lovely。 Like a big comfort blanket。
Steve Streeter
，
Onjali Q Rauf has written another excellent children’s novel。 Similarly to her previous stories she has the skill of capturing the voices of the young protagonists without being patronising and conveying their hopes and fears in a truly realistic manner。 All of her books make the reader reflect on how children and adults interact and respect one another from different faults and heritage。 The Lion Above The Door is an important book in so many ways as it draws attention to the “forgotten and ign Onjali Q Rauf has written another excellent children’s novel。 Similarly to her previous stories she has the skill of capturing the voices of the young protagonists without being patronising and conveying their hopes and fears in a truly realistic manner。 All of her books make the reader reflect on how children and adults interact and respect one another from different faults and heritage。 The Lion Above The Door is an important book in so many ways as it draws attention to the “forgotten and ignored” people who gave their lives to fight with the allies in WWII。 On a school visit Leo sees a memorial carved with his name and then begins his journey to discover who this person was and ultimately the role they played in World War II as Malayan fighter pilot over Europe。 Along with his friends Sanghetta and Olivia ， they begin to research their relatives roles in the war against the backdrop of a class assembly and television programme being filmed in school。 Racism within the class is not avoided。 The story is much like a detective story as the children research their families。 The relationship between Leo and his father is powerful as in Leo’ s eyes his father doesn’t appear to fight back against prejudice （ particularly living in an English countryside village community）but as the story moves forward the two come together in their understanding。 In a world where nationalism is rising and history is being exploited by certain groups to often build a white-centric vision of the past ，this book is so important and the story is shared so that younger generations finally peel away the blinkered view / perspective of historical events 。This is a book I will be highly recommending to my colleagues in KS 2 and also for learners/ readers to enjoy 。 Another winner。 。。。more
Joan Whittaker
，
Another triumph from an incredible writer。 Onjali Ralf has done it again。 It sounds cliched to say “I laughed， I cried” but I genuinely laughed out loud whilst reading， got choked up by the emotional ending， and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it。 It’s safe to say that I loved it。 Leo， a boy living in the UK but of Singaporean descent， cannot see anyone who looked like him when studying World War 2- all the names sound like British royalty， and he feels like his ancestry are lesser to hi Another triumph from an incredible writer。 Onjali Ralf has done it again。 It sounds cliched to say “I laughed， I cried” but I genuinely laughed out loud whilst reading， got choked up by the emotional ending， and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it。 It’s safe to say that I loved it。 Leo， a boy living in the UK but of Singaporean descent， cannot see anyone who looked like him when studying World War 2- all the names sound like British royalty， and he feels like his ancestry are lesser to his classmates。 Until， he spots a name on the cathedral wall honouring the soldiers from WW2， and not just any name- his own name。 Suddenly， Leo wants to know， who was this soldier， what is his story， and could he have been named after this Leo？ The race is on， especially as his class have been chosen to prepare an assembly and display board which might even make it onto TV。 Can he find out the information in time， to make everyone remember a forgotten hero？ A story that deals with racism， and the lived experiences of many children here in the UK， in a sensitive but insightful way， and delivers a hopeful and inspirational message。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Lion Above the Door
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Lion Above the Door&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft