| The Cave Monster | |
|---|---|
| |
| Attribution information | |
| Author |
Justine Korman |
| Illustrator |
Don Williams |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher |
Golden Books |
| Published |
1996 |
| Collection |
Little Golden Books |
| ISBN-10 |
0307302970 |
| ISBN-13 |
978-0307302977 |
| Pages |
24 |
| “ |
|
” |
The Cave Monster (also known as Simba's Daring Rescue) is a book inspired by The Lion King. It was published by Golden Books in 1996.
Synopsis[]
Under the careful eye of their babysitter, Zazu, Simba and Nala went on a stroll through the Pride Lands. Upon finding a cave, the cubs resolved to explore it, only to devolve into arguing over which of them was braver and thus deserved to look first. As they were fighting, Nala flipped Simba over so that he landed right in front of the cave.
Before Zazu could stop Simba, he peeked inside the cave, only for a pair of eyes to stare back at him from the darkness. A deep voice demanded to know who had disturbed him, and Simba answered bravely that it had been he, the future Lion King. In answer, the voice introduced itself as Anansi, the "ruler of the forest," and boasted about how powerful he was. Terrified, Zazu flew off to fetch Mufasa, while Anansi merely laughed and claimed that he would tie a knot in the king's tail. Simba yelled that Anansi would not dare, but Anansi gave a massive roar in response.
Simba confessed that he was scared, but Nala claimed that she needed to see the monster herself to be afraid. To Simba's dismay, she disappeared into a cave. A moment later, she screamed, and Simba rushed into the cave to find her cowering against the wall. She admitted that she was indeed afraid of something, and Simba noted that her voice sounded like a monster's when it echoed in the cave.
At that moment, a spider stepped into the light, and Simba asked incredulously if he was the monster. The spider admitted that he was, in fact, Anansi and had only pretended to be strong to defend himself. Simba merely laughed in relief.
Just then, the cubs heard a powerful roar, and Simba deduced that it was his father, Mufasa. The next moment, Mufasa demanded that the monster show itself and explained that he was there to save Simba and Nala. Though the cubs padded out into the open, Anansi hung back until Simba assured him that Mufasa would not be angry once they explained themselves. Anansi clarified that he was fearful of Zazu eating him. Staring at the spider, Mufasa asked if this was the "forest ruler," which caused both Simba and Nala to burst out laughing.
In the face of the king's questions, Simba and Nala recounted the tale of how they had met Anansi. While Nala pointed out that the cave had scared Simba, he countered that Anansi had scared her. Anansi admitted that Zazu still scared him, to which Zazu bragged that very little scared him. Chuckling, Mufasa claimed that long stories scared him, and Zazu remarked that everyone was scared of something, even the Lion King.
Appearances[]
Characters Species Locations Organizations and titles |
Trivia[]
- A slightly altered version of The Cave Monster was re-released in 2001 under the title Simba's Daring Rescue.
