SuitabookFear and friendship
The lion and the man become friends, but each fears being harmed by the other; the man’s spear threat is followed by the lion fleeing and their friendship ending.
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Book details
Joachim Muhindo - Author
Originally published by African Storybook Initiative.
Author - Joachim Muhindo Illustration - Marleen Visser Language - English Level - First sentences © African Storybook Initiative 2014 Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 Source www.africanstorybook.org Original source
author: Joachim Muhindo. illustrator: Marleen Visser.
Cover resized and converted to WebP; story unchanged. Suitabook’s guidance is a separate analysis.
Original Book on African Storybook: Lion that wanted friendship (opens in a new tab)A short illustrated tale turns a hopeful friendship into a breakdown of trust, then offers a direct lesson about considering whether people can live peacefully together.
Book Brief
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Sign in for personalised guidanceA short illustrated tale turns a hopeful friendship into a breakdown of trust, then offers a direct lesson about considering whether people can live peacefully together.
The lion and the man become friends, but each fears being harmed by the other; the man’s spear threat is followed by the lion fleeing and their friendship ending.
Fear and threatened violence are central: the man takes up a spear and the story ends by describing humans and lions killing one another. The illustrations show the tense encounter.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: the book’s treatment of its main themes is not yet firm enough.
african-storybook — Lion that wanted friendship
Complete story and illustrations
Checked: 8 October 2026.
Anything not established here remains open; it is not being treated as absent or safe.