Pinkney’s stunning illustrations of the African landscape and the care with which he has drawn out the characters in the fable deliver. The cliché, a picture is worth a thousand words, holds true in the case of The Lion & the Mouse. Though at first this may seem strange, no aspect of the story or its moral is lost by this artistic choice. Pinkney is an award-winning artist and chose to tell this famous fable with no text. Later when the Lion is caught in a poacher’s trap the mouse chews through the trap and sets the lion free, proving that what goes around comes around. This unique children’s book is a wordless reimagining of one of Aesop’s most famous fables in which a ferocious lion plans to eat the timid mouse that woke him from his nap, but the lion has a change of heart and lets the mouse go. When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry.The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney was the winner of the 2010 Caldecott Medal, the highest honor for children’s books.Reviewer: Linda Flach, MS Early Childhood Consultant Early Childhood Consultation Partnership The kindness of the animals can help open discussions of what it is to be a friend as well as show that a friend does not need to look like you. The adult or the children can describe what is happening in the pictures. This provides a great opportunity to build language and concepts about friendship. It is up to the reader to provide the words of the story since the only words indicated are the sounds of animals and the “putt putt” of the vehicle driven by the trappers. The pictures are expressive and full of beauty. The story is told through the art of the illustrator.

When the lion finds himself trapped in a net, the mouse saves the great lion by chewing and chewing through the ropes to free him. The lion lets the mouse go, sparing his life. The story is about a small mouse that finds himself in the clutches of a great lion.

It is the classic Aesop fable in an updated format. This is a wonderful book to talk about friendship and what it means to be a friend.

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney