The Lion & The Mouse

Pinkney, J., & Aesop. (2009). The lion & the mouse. New York: Little, Brown and Books for Young Readers.  ISBN 978-0-3160-1356-7

Plot Summary:

This retell of Aesop's Fable of The Lion and The Mouse is a mostly wordless one. It tells the tale of a mouse that is caught by the lion. The mouse asks to be let go, and the lion obliges. The Lion is later trapped by poacher’ traps, and the mouse is able to set him free by gnawing at the traps.  The only words used in this book are onomatopoeias. The story leaves us with an illustration of the lion and his family, living with the mouse’s family riding on his back. This version, keeps the same moral/theme of Aesop’s version-No act of kindness, however small is ever wasted.

Analysis:

Pinkney used pencils and watercolors to illustrate his version of this Aesop’s Fable. His research on Lion’s and their natural habitat, African Serengeti of Tanzania and Kenya, and using this knowledge when creating the landscapes and the characters in this story really show in his attention to detail. His two main characters show so many different facial expressions and Pinkney’s thoroughness to include details in his work shows with the way that though hand drawn and then colored with watercolors, the animals never look animated or like cartoon characters. They look real.  His ability to show perspective and scale size throughout the images is wonderful. Readers can really understand and grasp the size difference between the two main characters, which is a great way to understand the moral of the story.  The fact that this version is, almost, wordless makes it a great story for all readers to acknowledge how powerful illustrations are when reading a book. Reading pictures IS reading. Also, this makes it a great book for “non-readers” to retell the story, they can’t get any words wrong. Reading & retelling this book is a great example of how folktales get passed down and how versions could change a bit. The story never gets told the same way two times in a row.

Review Excerpts:

Caldecott Medal 2010

Review on PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Pinkney has no need for words; his art speaks eloquently for itself.”

Review on CCBC “ The story unfolds in illustrations offering many captivating perspectives, from the mouse unwittingly scaling the hill of the lion's back early on, to the overhead view of the lion later walking beneath a trap, followed by a close-up of his paw stepping on the rope that will bind him.”

Connections:

*Text-to-Text Connections-Teacher could read other versions of this book and compare how they are similar and different.

*Art Connection-Teachers could use this book as an example for readers on how researching locations can play such a great role in your artwork and illustrations. Illustrations are great at showing perspective and size scale.