The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse

Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney

Genre: Traditional Literature

Major Awards: Caldecott Medal (2010)

Grade Level: Pre-K-2

Summary: In this wordless rendition of Aesop's Fables, the mouse can be seen running away from an owl. After escaping, he finds himself on the back of a lion, who, instead of eating the mouse, was gracious and released it. The mouse ran off to his family and the lion walks away. We then see that poachers have set a trap, in which the lion gets caught. He cries (or roars) for help. The mouse heard the lion's desperation and ran to its rescue. The mouse chewed through the net and freed the lion. They both part ways and at the end of the story we see the mouse reunited with his family. In sum, because the lion let the mouse go, the mouse returned the favor by freeing the lion.

Evaluation: I would definitely use this book in the classroom, but as an independent reader. It will allow children to learn to interpret the meaning of images and how illustrations can tell a story. It will also help them use their imagination to analyze what is going on.

Because this is a wordless picture book, it would be most developmentally appropriate for young children (pre-k through second). This would also be best for a young audience because they are still learning to read as well as learning about the importance of illustrations in a story. I think that this book would help students develop a new love for reading and would help them see writing/illustrating as art.

I think a great unit would be for students to make their own wordless picture books and then make stations in which their peers (and even their parents) can view the stories. This book could also be used to teach about summary. Since there are no words, it would really help reinforce turning images to ideas and using full sentences to communicate those ideas with others.