- First published
- 1978
- Editions
- 2 editions
- Status
- In print
Eli
An old, worn-out lion named Eli is befriended by a flock of vultures that everyone else despises, and when danger comes the unlikely friends repay one another's kindness.
"Once upon a time there was a lion named Eli who lived in the faraway land of Kumbumbazango. He was a decrepit old cat with a scruffy mop of a mane, and most of the thunder had gone out of his roar. Now, after many long years as a proud king of beasts, the old lion had finally become as meek as a mouse."
Bill Peet kept the character on his studio wall for years before finding the story: "A sketch of a scraggly maned decrepit old lion was also left on the wall for years before I found a story for him and named him 'Eli'." Lions were among his favorite subjects, appearing also in Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure and Randy's Dandy Lions.
From the book
Preliminary sketches
