LS5603-Traditional Lit. 3: The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

1.     BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. Little, Brown and Company: New York, 2009. ISBN 9780316013567

2.     PLOT SUMMARY

The tale has no narration, so the reader must take its plot clues from the pictures themselves. It starts with a mouse running from an owl, ends up taking refuge on a lion! The lion looks ready to eat the mouse, when the mouse makes a plea for its life, and the lion lets him go back home to his family. Later on, some hunters set up a trap. The lion walks right into the trap and gets caught in a rope net. The mouse comes and chews through the ropes, freeing the lion. Both creatures go on to live happy, healthy lives.

3.     CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This nearly wordless tale retells the classic story of the lion and the mouse. There are about half a dozen sound effect words throughout the pages, but the entire narration must be made up by the one reading it. This has potential to be a very interactive book with younger readers—questions about what is going on in the scene and what they think will happen next are easy, especially when there are no words to take cues from.

Pinkney’s expressive watercolors are mesmerizing. He sets the story in the Serengeti, where lions actually live. Unlike many children’s books, his animals are accurately drawn, from the mouse’s oddly shaped feet to the owl’s wings. His pictures also bring in something that was not in the original stories—family. Both the Mouse and the Lion’s family are shown in this version, which is very heartwarming to see.

4.     REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

From PUBLISHERS WEEKLY – “Pinkney enriches this classic tale of friendship with another universal theme—family—affectingly illustrated in several scenes as well as in the back endpapers […] Pinkney has no need for words; his art speaks eloquently for itself.”

From NEW YORK TIMES – “The art of Jerry Pinkney’s new picture book is commanding enough to do without the author’s name or even the title on the front cover.”

From KIRKUS REVIEWS – “A nearly wordless exploration of Aesop’s fable of symbiotic mercy that is nothing short of masterful.”

5.     CONNECTIONS

Other books by Jerry Pinkney

·         Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Jerry Pinkney and Rudyard Kipling, ISBN 0688143202

·         Noah’s Ark ISBN 1587172011

·         The Tortoise & the Hare, ISBN 0316183563

·         Puss in Boots ISBN 0803716427

·         Aesop’s Fables ISBN 1587170000

Other books about helping others

·         How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham, ISBN

·         The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

·         Angelo by David Macaulay

Activity: Helping others with favors

·         For older children

·         In The Lion & The Mouse, the mouse helps the lion in a small but important way. How can our readers help others, like their parents?

·         Have them fill out favor coupons (a template can be found here,page 16--will download a .pdf)

Activity: Illustrating without words

·         Read another of Aesop’s Fables, such as “The Tortoise and the Hare” or “The Fox and the Grapes.” After reading the story, discuss the important elements of the story, and then have the readers make their own illustrated version. If this is a class, split them into groups and each group illustrate a different part of the story, instead of the whole story.