Reading Animals in Margaret Mahy's Poems, Picture Books, and Stories for Younger Readers

"Mother, there is a lion in the meadow," says a little boy in 'A Lion in the Meadow' (1965, 7). His disbelieving mother replies that he is making up stories, "so I will make up a story, too" (9). Giving her son a matchbox, she tells him that in the matchbox is a tiny dragon. If the boy takes it to the meadow and opens it, the dragon will grow in size and chase the lion away. She is surprised when the boy and an actual "roaring, whiskery lion" rush inside to hide from a dragon that has taken over the meadow instead.