I don't care if you like comics or not, you really should read
Pride of Baghdad.
It's about talking lions and they fight a bear, but it's based on a true story. The lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo when it got bombed in 2003. I'm glad I didn't really read about what wound up happening to them before reading the book. Let's just say I feel terrible about the whole thing.
:(
The little cub is too cute, too.