"Am I a white zebra with black stripes or a black zebra with white stripes?" asks Zebra. Zebra cannot find the answer to this question alone, so it asks eight animals in the African savannah if they know the answer it seeks. Each animal answers with its own, unique personality, yet leaves Zebra with no satisfactory answer. Just when Zebra wants to give up, it remembers what Lion had answered him as he had scared Zebra away because Lion sees meat and isn't concerned with color like Zebra. Because Zebra was afraid of becoming Lion's lunch when it met him, Zebra didn't fully appreciate Lion's answer. Eventually, Lion's words surprise Zebra and the reader with answering Zebra's question-it doesn't matter if Zebra is primarily black OR primarily white. What matters is that it is equally black AND white.