Follow the journey of an unlikely friendship between a lion and a mouse. After an unlikely act of great kindness, the mouse has an opportunity to repay the favor to the lion. Find out how this all unfolds, in the beautiful and wordless tale of, The Lion and the Mouse.
Summary:
Based off on Aesop's Fable, "The Lion and the Mouse", this beautifully illustrated picture book takes you on a wordless trip through the story. Each picture is delicately drawn to give it a whimsical like feel. The story takes place in what appears to be Africa, with us following a little mouse as he scurries across the plains, being chased by an owl. Lucky for him, he narrowly misses being caught and hides in the tall grass. Unbeknownst to him however, he has landed upon the back of a giant lion. At first it appears as if the lion is going to eat the mouse but surprisingly, he lets him go. The mouse scurries away back to his nest filled with little baby mice. Later that day, some trappers come and set up a giant net that captures the unsuspecting lion. Hearing the lion cry out, the mouse comes running to help. After all, the lion had sparred his life earlier that day. The mouse chewed on the ropes and was able to get the lion free. After a quick look of what appears to be gratitude, the mouse once again scurries away, only this time, returning to his nest with a ball of rope for the babies to chew on.
My Assessment:
This is a beautifully illustrated book. It is amazing to see the power that pictures can have in painting a story without words. I think that this is a great story to use in your classroom for so many different reasons. Above all else, I love the moral of the story of helping others in a time of need, and how sometimes a decision can ultimately be life changing.
Teaching Tip:
Not only would this story be great for character education, there are so many spin off assignments that you could do from this wonderful book. Children could use their imagination to create dialogue between the lion and the mouse. This is a terrific book to introduce non readers to so that they can see that you can read pictures just as easily as the words. It's great for inference as well.
What I Loved the Most:
These illustrations are phenomenal. The fact that you can see the pencil through the color creates an amazing delicateness. The lion and the mouse are drawn with so much expression which is why words become a mute point. There is so much detail on each page that it is absolutely breath taking. This is a book that will definitely sit on my classroom library shelves.