The+Lion+and+the+Mouse

The lion and the mouse Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Book review by Katie Ayers

Ages 1 and up Hardcover book 40 pages Published by Little, Brown books for Young Readers (September 1, 2009) $8.00 on amazon Language: English ISBN: 0316013560
 * Bibliographical data **

Author biography Jerry Pinkney studied at Philadelphia college of art where he received the Alumni Award in 1992. He has been illustrating children's books since 1964 and has illustrated over 100 books. He earned the Caldecott Medal for The Lion and The Mouse in 2010. His works have been featured in The New York Times, American Artists Magazine, The CBS Sunday Morning Show, PBS Reading Rainbow Room and more. He currently lives with his wife in New York.

Summary This book was about a mouse who was wandering around and happened to climb on top of a lion while he was sleeping. Instead of the lion eating the mouse, he decided to let him free. The mouse went back to his family and seemed so happy to be set free and have the opportunity to still live. Then the lion was walking around and he walked into a trap that was set by the humans to capture him. The mouse heard the lion roaring for help and came to the rescue. The mouse chewed on the rope until the lion was set free. Then they both went on their separate ways.

Review <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">While this book provided a minimum amount of words, it was a great story due to the pictures. I never read a wordless book before, and I enjoyed the experience. It made it so that people can make different interpretations about it and make up their own story. I really liked how the lion decided not to eat the mouse who disturbed him, and then when the lion was trapped the mouse was able to then help him. It was a great story and could teach a great lesson to children!

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">Analysis of literary elements (character development) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">In the beginning of the story when the mouse wandered upon the lion, one would have thought that he was going to eat him. Instead, the lion put the mouse down. The mouse then was able to save the lion from his trap when he was stuck. The lion really developed as a character because most of the time the lion would eat the mouse and think nothing of it, but he did not and because of that he was set free later on in the story. This story would especially appeal to children because it is one where they could use their imagination and have a lot of discussion about what they think is happening at a certain point in the story. It also shows them to always be nice to people, even people they might not think they like, because it will benefit them. They should always be willing to help others. This is an important message for students to get out of any story, so I think this book would be great to use with children in the classroom.