The Lion & the Mouse

by Jerry Pinkney (Author)

The Lion & the Mouse
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

In award-winning artist Jerry Pinkney's wordless adaptation of one of Aesop's most beloved fables, an unlikely pair learn that no act of kindness is ever wasted. After a ferocious lion spares a cowering mouse that he'd planned to eat, the mouse later comes to his rescue, freeing him from a poacher's trap.

With vivid depictions of the landscape of the African Serengeti and expressively-drawn characters, Pinkney makes this a truly special retelling, and his stunning pictures speak volumes.

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Hardcover
$19.99

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review

His luxuriant use of close-ups humanizes his animal characters without idealizing them, and that’s no mean feat. In a closing artist’s note, Pinkney talks about his choice to forgo text.

None

Starred Review

If the five cubs in the back endpapers are a surprise, the mouse family of ten, perched on the ridge of father lion's back, is sheer delight. Unimpeachable.

None

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.

None

Starred Review


Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Other than some squeaks, hoots and one enormous roar, Pinkney's ("Little Red Riding Hood") interpretation of Aesop's fable is wordlessas is its striking cover, which features only a head-on portrait of the lion's face. Mottled, tawny illustrations show a mouse unwittingly taking refuge on a lion's back as it scurries away from an owl. The large beast grabs and then releases the tiny creature, who later frees the lion who has become tangled in a hunter's snare. Pinkney enriches this classic tale of friendship with another universal themefamilyaffectingly illustrated in several scenes as well as in the back endpapers, which show the lion walking with his mate and cubs as the mouse and her brood ride on his back. Pinkney's artist's note explains that he set the book in Africa's Serengeti, with its wide horizon and abundant wildlife so awesome yet fragilenot unlike the two sides of each of the heroes. Additional 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. Ages 36. "(Sept.)"

Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3-The African Serengeti forms the backdrop for a lion that captures a rodent and-for reasons left for readers to ponder-releases it. His decision is rewarded, and the value of even the smallest creature is recognized in this stunning Caldecott winner rendered in expressive watercolors. A visual feast. 

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes



Jerry Pinkney
Jerry Pinkney is one of the most heralded children's book illustrators of all time. He has the rare distinction of being the recipient of five Caldecott Honors and the winner of the 2010 Caldecott medal for The Lion and the Mouse. He has published numerous reimagined classic tales, including The Little Mermaid, The Tortoise & the Hare, The Grasshopper & the Ants, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Little Red Riding Hood, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award five times, the Coretta Scott King Honor four times, and has been nominated for the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Award. He was also the first children's book illustrator elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives with his wife, author Gloria Jean Pinkney, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. The artist invites you to visit his website at jerrypinkneystudio.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780316013567
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
September 01, 2009
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV022020 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, & Fables | Greek & Roman
Library of Congress categories
Stories without words
Fables
Folklore
Caldecott Medal
Winner 2010 - 2010
Indies Choice Book Awards
Winner 2010 - 2010
Texas 2x2 Reading List
Recommended 2010 - 2010
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
Honor Book 2010 - 2010
Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up)
Gold Medal Winner 2009 - 2009
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2010 - 2010
Cybils
Finalist 2009 - 2009
Buckeye Children's Book Award
Nominee 2011 - 2011
Volunteer State Book Awards
Nominee 2011 - 2012

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