JENS MATTSSON is a school librarian living in Lund, Sweden. We Are Lions! is his debut work, inspired by the eternal subjects of life, death and play.

JENNY LUCANDER is a Finnish-Swedish children's book creator who has illustrated several acclaimed children's books. She has won the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize, and has been nominated for the Runenberg Prize and the Rudolf Koivu Prize for the most beautiful picture book. She lives in Helsinki, Finland. 

B.J. WOODSTEIN is a translator, writer, doula, lactation consultant and associate professor of literature. She lives in Norwich, England, with her wife and their children.

This shattering picture book is practical and elevating in equal measure. … As unflinching as a child’s questions, and brutally compelling. STARRED REVIEW

Inspired and sensitive storytelling that will help little ones make sense of a potentially disturbing topic. STARRED REVIEW

Truly good picture books have text and illustrations that complement each other, acting together to form a single story told by two forms of communication, and We Are Lions! is a masterful example of this. … Dealing with themes like illness, death, and grief, We Are Lions! is a picture book that can be used to introduce these hard but important topics to a wide variety of readers. On the other hand, it can also help children who have faced grief in their lives understand it better and not feel as alone in it.

A sensitive treatment of childhood illness as well as a celebration of the joys of a child’s imagination.