From the Dec. 3, 1951 photo essay —LION IN CLASS: The Owens had a little cub, it followed them to school. According to LIFE, "By last week, a lion cub had become a well-known figure in Garden City, Kan. educational circles. He had visited four public schools and had paid his respects to the parochial school as well. The students were delighted at his visits and the teachers found that a five-month-old lion was not much more trouble than a 5-year-old human. This image opened the story with the following caption: "A well-behaved visitor, Tommy, in elaborate bow, stretches out on a desk in the second grade at Alta Brown School. Visits to schools began when Mrs. Owens, then enrolling her children in school, jokingly asked the principal if she could enroll a lion. Principal demurred but said he could pay a visit, which he did. (A.Y.Owen—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)