The Lion & the Mouse (Caldecott Medal Winner)

As a child this was one of my favorite stories as it was inside the schoolbook reader titled "Storyland Favorites" dated 1961 which had colorful pictures and simple text to explain the story. Because of this memory I already knew this story well. (For those who prefer this story with words I would suggest looking for a used copy of this old schoolbook on ebay or abebooks)This book is an absoulute TREASURE! Santa brought this for our 3 year old son (38 months) and although we didn't get to it Christmas day (too busy playing with toys!) I decided to pick it up and read it to him today and once I did, there was no going back lol He insisted I read it to him no less than about 8 times today! And he apparently has a VERY good memory because if I read it "differently" in subsequent retellings, he would insist that wasn't right and so I had to try again without leaving out the parts I might have said last time! lolFor US, this was a book of MANY words, and it took us about 8 or 10 minutes each time to read the whole book! (and we sat through 5 readings in a row before nap and several more later that evening!) I love how many pages there are and how many things there are to talk about in each of the pictures! It is a delight to read and to re-read and I can see that this is going to become one of our favorites.We talk about how the mouse doesn't see the owl but he hears the owl (whooo-whooo) and decides to run into the hole because owls eat mice and he knows the owl is close by. He gets away just in time and when he comes out on the other side he looks around but doesn't see or hear the owl because the owl flew away back home. The mouse decides to take a little rest on the grass because he is out of breath from running so fast from the owl but the mouse doesn't realize he isn't on grass it is actually the lions tail which is the same color. Then he climbs up on the lions back and the lion snatches him up and says he will eat the mouse! The mouse cries out "please don't eat me Mr Lion, if you let me go, I will help you some day" The lion laughs in a deep voice, "How can you help me? You are little, I am big; you can't help me" but he lets the mouse go because he is a good lion... I could go on, but these are just some of the things we talked about in the first part of the book.I feel this book just couldn't have been done any better. I give it 5 stars but wish I could give 10. Its the only book I believe I have EVER read that didnt' have ANY words (well, there are a few here and there.. a roar or a squeak or a whoo- whoo from the owl) and I discovered (at age 38) how much fun a picture book can be. I'll be searching for more out there but I'm doubting there could be any that could trump this one (feel free to send me any suggestions!)I would suggest that the storyteller already be familiar with the story before purchasing so you are not at a loss for words when it comes time to read the story to your child, although to be honest the pictures are really self-explanatory and probably could be figured out anyway! My 3 year old was totally enthralled with the story and each of the pages! The expression on the faces of the animals is just priceless! We loved it and will be returning to it many times in the future. I wish I could hug the artist for giving us such a wonderful opportunity for spending great quality time together! I had read some reviews before purchasing and am delighted that it has met and exceeded my expectations.

Beautiful and vivid pictures to capture children attention. No written stories but my 2 1/2 year old grandson understands it and is very moved with the story! He wants to read the book with me telling the story at least 20 times on the first day!Thanks author!!!

I checked this book out from the library. Wonderful pictures and very few words - mostly descriptive ("Screech"). My two year old grandson fell in love with the book. We read it every day and I am pretty sure his parents read it to him frequently too. The kid was very very disappointed, as only a two year old can be, when we had to return the book to the library. He spoke wistfully of his lion book and looked for it every time we went to the library, but it was always checked out. Luckily Christmas was coming and I ordered the lion book from Amazon. It takes us a long time to read the book because we have to pore over each page counting the lions and their cubs and the mouse's babies. The pages are amazing - they hold the little guy's interest and he is fascinated with the lion's plight in the net. I will ask him what is happening and he will tell me the story. Buy the book. It is worth the price just to see the enjoyment in your little person's eyes. My five year old grandson enjoyed the book for the first dozen or so readings but lost interest - he is more into Skylanders. But it is a wonderful picture book for littler ones.

Phenomenal! The memorable adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words", describes the exceptional illustrations in this book. With each turn of the page, the illustrator gives a double-page spread filled with elements of design. Included are great details and textured artwork, which alludes to the reader that the surface of the page may actually be tactile (Temple, Martinez, & Yokota, 2011, p. 69). There is so much detail in every image and scene that I was able to comfortably follow along with the story, even with the minimal use of words. In a sense, it actually allowed for me to imagine my own words to the story, as my eyes absorbed the actions and emotions with each flip of a page. I loved how the lion spared the life of the mouse, and in return, the mouse helped free the lion. I am reminded of a quote by Lao Tzu, "Great acts are made up of small deeds" (Jenkins, 2010, p. 16), which is truly represented in this story of heroism between the lion and mouse.References:Jenkins, L. (2010). The smartest words ever spoken: 1001 timeless quotes. Clarington, ON, Canada: A Better Choice Publishing.Pinkney, J. (2009). The lion and the mouse. China: Hachette Book Group, Inc.Temple, C., Martinez, M., & Yokota, J. (2011). Children's books in children's hands: An introduction to their literature. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

I usually am pretty quick to return books that don't have any words written on the pages of the book. Yes, be fore-warned...this book is only pictures and nothing but pictures. Yet, the pictures are beautifully drawn. One really enjoys looking at the detail of each drawing. They are done in such a way and the story is laid out in such a way that one can easily 'talk' through the story, to their child, without needing to 'read' the story. I do still wish that the author had taken the time to write out the story on each page and really don't get why the author doesn't do this because, it is a well-known story. I do feel that this technique is better utilized in a story which is very open-ended. Therefore, allowing the reader to 'imagine' their own path for the characters. But, that is not what most people will do with this story because, it is already such an established tale. I predict that most readers will simply try to re-tell the classic tale using the pictures as their guide. Therefore, the author might-as-well include the text.