Find fantastic free resources and discover new books from award-winning authors

Books

African Stories: Once Upon a Leopard

Ken Wilson-Max, Author

Burgen Thorne, Illustrator

Chantelle Thorne, Illustrator

Series: African Stories

Imprint: Hodder Children's Books

Publication date: January 16, 2025

Category: Animal stories (Children's / Teenage)

ISBN: 9781444978148

Inspired by traditional animal stories from Africa, find out WHY Leopard has spots!

Once upon a time, Leopard didn’t have a wonderfully spotty coat. Until he rescued a firebird from the flames and she left her sooty mark on his golden fur.

A vibrant animal adventure perfect for curious little ones. Written by Ken Wilson-Max and illustrated by the multi award-winning Chantelle and Burgen Thorne.

Also available in the African Stories series: Once Upon an Elephant, Once Upon a Zebra, Once Upon a Lion, Once Upon a Giraffe, Once Upon a Hippo, Once Upon a Hyena, Once Upon a Buffalo, Once Upon a Rhino, and Once Upon a Chameleon.

Ken Wilson-Max

Ken Wilson-Max is an award-winning author, illustrator and publisher of children’s books. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He trained to be a graphic designer in Zimbabwe before coming to the UK. He now lives in London.

In 2020 his book, Astro Girl, won the STEAM award for early years picture books. Where’s Lenny? was listed in 50 Best Culturally Diverse Children’s Books by The Guardian and Max Paints the House is listed in 150 Important Children’s Books by the African American Literature Book Club.

Ken has over 70 children’s books published by over 15 international publishers in many languages worldwide.

Burgen Thorne

Multi-award winning illustration team Chantelle and Burgen Thorne are eclectic bookworms who delight in the magic of stories. In the rolling green hills of their rural home, they spend their days creating children’s book art … and sometimes writing a story or two themselves. As career illustrators, they learned to draw really, really fast and have become deft wielders of the digital brush. They’re at their happiest drawing kids’ stories with a bit of humor and a ton of animals.

Chantelle Thorne

Multi-award winning illustration team Chantelle and Burgen Thorne are eclectic bookworms who delight in the magic of stories. In the rolling green hills of their rural home in South Africa, they spend their days creating children’s book art. .. and sometimes writing a story or two themselves. As career illustrators, they learned to draw really, really fast and have become deft wielders of the digital brush. They’re at their happiest drawing kids’ stories with a bit of humor and a ton of animals.