The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Spotlight on Traditional Tales

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

ROAARRRR…Squeak, squeak, squeak.  Can the king of the jungle and a meek rodent become friends?  Let’s shine the spotlight on this classic retelling:


Summary

This story is an adaptation of one of Aesop’s fables in a unique wordless version.  Two opposing characters, a lion and a mouse, are brought together.  In the story, a mouse accidentally stumbles upon a lion, who snatches her up.  After a moment of contemplation, the lion lets the mouse run free.  The lion takes a walk into the jungle and gets trapped in a poacher’s net.  The mouse can hear the lion’s roar and comes to his aid, freeing him from the net.  The mouse’s debt has been repaid to the lion.

Discussion

This is a classic fable where the roots of traditional literature are on display.  The features of reading a wordless version make this book even more intriguing.   Animal and jungle noises are noted on many pages to draw in children’s attention.  On some pages, the sounds are repeated and on others, they are only noted once.  Children will surely use their best attempts to make the noises throughout the reading.  Children will love the details in the illustrations, which move the story along. Children will also enjoy the way a smaller, weaker character helps a bigger, stronger character.  Parents and grandparents will be excited to share this story to see how children’s creative thinking takes off as they tell “their” story to match the pictures.

The illustrations will keep your eyes moving across every page in The Lion and the Mouse.  The cover art will be the first illustration to grab children’s attention. Pinkney takes advantage of the front and back cover by placing a close up picture of the lion on the front. His eyes are looking towards the back cover, where a close up picture of the mouse can be found.  

The inside covers are also used to tell part of the story.  The jungle is on full display on the inside front cover.  Two pages provide a scene of the landscape, with giraffes, zebras, ostriches, elephants, birds and more!  The lion and his family are introduced on the inside front cover.  The illustrations on the title page introduce us to the mouse sitting in a footprint from the lion.  The final scenes of the book take us back to the families behind the main characters.  The mouse is back with her babies on the last page, but the true end of the story is found when turning to the back inside cover.  Here, the lion can be seen walking with his family, carrying the mouse and her family on his back.

Throughout the story, some illustrations continue to set a scene over two pages.  Others take up one page and some have a border set up around them.  The illustration colors and sharp details make the setting and the animals seem life-like, from the lion’s mane and whiskers to the blades of grass, weeds and brush, to the mouse’s fur.  Pinkney does not miss a detail!  Dark and light colors create shadows and light, as well as blended colors.  

Pinkney places a unique vantage point in the middle of the book.  In this view, looking down from the trees, the reader can see the poacher’s trap has been set.  The lion can be seen walking through the jungle, unaware of the trap.  A close up on the following page shows the lion’s paws getting caught up in the rope.

Overall, the strength of this book is in the way the illustrations capture and maintain your attention to tell a story of loyalty and friendship between two unlikely characters.

Awards/Reviews

Jerry Pinkney has received numerous awards for his artwork.  He has received the Caldecott Honor for five of his books. He has also won the Coretta Scott King Award five times, the Coretta Scott King Honor three times and was nominated for the Hans Christian Anderson Award.   

The Lion and the Mouse was a Caldecott Metal winner in 2010.  Here are samples of a few starred reviews:

"Pinkney enriches this classic tale of friendship with another universal theme - family - affectingly illustrated in several scenes as well as in the back endpapers... African species grace splendid panoramas that balance the many finely detailed, closeup images of the protagonists. Pinkney has no need for words; his art speaks eloquently for itself." - Publishers Weekly

"A nearly wordless exploration of Aesop's fable of symbiotic mercy that is nothing short of masterful... Unimpeachable." - Kirkus Reviews

"Pinkney's luminous art, rendered in watercolor and colored pencil, suggests a natural harmony... The ambiguity that results from the lack of words in this version allows for a slower, subtle, and ultimately more satisfying read. Moments of humor and affection complement the drama. A classic tale from a consummate artist." - School Library Journal
"By retelling Aesop's fable entirely in his signature pencil and watercolor art, Pinkney encourages closer exploration of the pleasing detail with which he amplifies it... It will be a challenge for libraries to make every gorgeous surface available, but it's a challenge worth taking on." - The Horn Book

Teacher’s Tools

Teachers could include this book as a read-aloud when focusing on illustrations in picture books.  Students could be asked to add words to the book using Post-it notes.

This book could be used to compare to other versions of The Lion and the Mouse.  Teachers could engage students in a discussion about helping and how smaller, weaker characters help larger, stronger characters.  Teachers could help students make connections to real life with younger children helping older children or adults.

Jerry Pinkney has been honored for many of his works.  Various books he retold and illustrated could be collected for an author/illustrator study, like Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Red Hen and The Ugly Duckling.

Bibliographic Information

Pinkney, Jerry. 2009. The Lion and the Mouse. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0-316-01356-7.

The Lion and the Mouse