Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Das Geheime Leben der Tiere: Savanne #1: Nuru und Lela: Das Wunder der Wildnis.
Another book in this anthology series. This time it's about a lion and a hyena. Spoilers ahead.
Nuru is a young lion cub born in his pride, where he grows up under the watchful eye of the lionesses alongside two other cubs. The lion pride has always been at odds with the local clan of hyenas. But one day Nuru meets Lela, daughter of the hyena matriarch, and the two form an unexpected friendship. When two rogue lion males then attack Nuru's pride, this means bad news for both the lionesses, lion cubs and the spotted hyena clan. Will they manage to survive?
Overall this is a simple and cute xenofiction about the unusual friendship between a lion and a hyena. It's nothing groundbreaking, it's nothing special, it's fairly simple in its execution, but it works. That seems to be my general consensus regarding the books I've read of the Secret Life of Animals series so far. They're never really all that fantastic or anything but for what they are (simple xenofictions for a younger audience with a slight educative element to them) they succeed very well.
The highlight of this book really is the bond between Nuru and Lela and how despite their factions being antagonistic they manage to befriend one another and retain their friendship. Even if it's a simple concept the execution works and is just really wholesome to read. In the end Nuru and Lela even manage to unite the lionesses and the hyena clan to fight against the rogue lions, ending the constant bickering between the two groups. It's just nice to see.
I'm also always happy to see positive hyena representation in my xenofiction because this is usually rather rare, most xenofiction taking place in Africa will go out of their way to portray them as filthy murderous scavengers. But as of late I have read a few positive representations of the species, in books such as this, Crocuta and the most recent Bravelands arc. Lela and her clan, but their portrayal is rather neutral and even positive at many occasions, so this is nice. There is some anti-hyena bigotry from the lions early in the book, but this is mostly because Nuru's family (particularly his father) fed him this propaganda from an early age. Nuru soon comes to realize that hyenas are different from lions, but they still deserve to be respected in their own right.
This book, like the rest I've read of this series so far, also has a minor educational element in that the behavior of the animals is largely accurate to real life and it has an extra section in the back talking about the species in question in real life, with some facts and talk about their conservation, etc. Again I appreciate this aspect as well because it's a nice, more subtle way to educate children. It's not super in-your-face with "X animal acts like Y" but it's also portrayed clearly enough in the text it'll probably stick for the younger readers. And of course for the more explicit educational aspect we have the text in the back, but since that's very short and not a part of the main story it's just nice to see the research into real animals mirrored there as well.
So yeah, this is by no means a fantastic book. There is no very intricate character development or deep lore or anything. But for a simple story about two unlikely friends saving the day with a small educational aspect, it does very well. Not great, but good in its own right.
Rating: 4/5
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