Leo the Listening Lion
Page 1: The Quiet Roar
Leo was a young lion with the biggest, fluffiest mane in the whole savanna. Every other cub spent
their days practicing their ROAR! The louder the better!
"ROAR like thunder, Leo!" shouted his father.
"ROAR like the wind, little one!" chirped his mother.
But Leo didn't like to roar. When he tried, his voice came out as a tiny, squeaky "mew!"
Instead of practicing, Leo sat quietly by the tall acacia trees. He closed his eyes and used his
enormous ears for something else. Leo was the best listener in the entire savanna. He could hear:
• The scritch-scratch of a beetle walking on a leaf.
• The slurp-slurp of a thirsty giraffe miles away.
• The pop of a seedpod bursting open in the hot sun.
The other cubs thought he was silly for not roaring, but Leo just smiled and kept his secret close.
Page 2: A Little Zebra's Trouble
One sunny morning, Leo was listening near the river. He heard the usual sounds: splashing hippos,
singing birds, and the noisy "HAW-HAW-HAW!" of a nearby hyena laughing at a joke.
Then, Leo heard a sound he hadn't heard before. It was a faint, tiny sniffle-sniffle... and a "Help me!"
that was barely a whisper.
Leo opened his eyes and looked around. Under a thorny bush, he saw a little zebra named Zippy.
Zippy was stuck! His back hoof was tangled in a thick vine, and he couldn't pull it out. He was too
scared to move, and the hyena was getting closer!
"Oh, no!" Zippy cried quietly. "If I call for my mom, the hyena will hear me first!"
Leo knew he couldn't roar to scare the hyena away—that would just be a squeaky mew. But he had a
different plan. A plan that needed his amazing ears.
Page 3: The Secret Whisper
Leo quickly put his ear to the ground and focused. He listened past the hyena's noisy giggling. He
listened for the pad-pad-pad of Zippy's mother's hooves.
He heard them! Mama Zebra and the herd were far away, grazing near the watering hole.
Leo looked at Zippy. "Don't move, Zippy," Leo whispered, his voice smooth and soft. "I know where
your mother is. I'll get help."
Leo quietly ran, weaving between the tall grasses so the laughing hyena wouldn't see him. When he
reached the watering hole, the whole zebra herd was drinking. They were so loud splashing and
stomping that Mama Zebra couldn't hear Leo's soft voice.
Leo tried a little "mew!" It was no good.
He had to get her attention. Leo looked around and saw a pile of dry, crunchy sticks. He had an idea!
Using his strong lion paws, Leo began to tap the sticks together in a special rhythm—a rhythm he
heard from the woodpeckers: Tap-tap-TAPPITY-tap!
Page 4: A New Kind of Hero
Mama Zebra, whose ears were also good at listening, stopped drinking. "Wait," she said, raising her
head. "I know that sound. That's the alarm tap!"
She turned and saw Leo. He gave a small nod and pointed his nose back toward the thorny bush.
Mama Zebra and the fastest members of the herd raced after Leo! They arrived just as the hyena was
creeping close to Zippy.
"WHOOSH!"
The big zebras kicked up a cloud of dust that scared the surprised hyena, who tumbled away crying,
"Ow! Not funny!" Mama Zebra quickly untangled Zippy's hoof with her strong teeth.
Zippy was safe!
"Thank you, Leo!" Zippy cried, hugging Leo's fluffy mane. "Your listening saved me! You are a true
hero!"
Leo smiled a big, proud lion smile. He hadn't needed a loud, scary roar to save the day. He just
needed his ears, his quick thinking, and his quiet, special skill. From that day on, the other cubs
stopped making fun of him. They knew that sometimes, the quietest listener is the strongest hero of
all.
The End
