The Lion and The Mouse

Author:  Jerry Pinkney, 2009, Little, Brown & Co.
Traditional Literature

Take a timeless fable, put a new spin on it, and tell it without using words.  That is essentially what Jerry Pinkney did with The Lion and The Mouse.  A mouse happens upon a lion one day, and in a great show of compassion, the lion lets the mouse go free.  Later on, when the lion is captured in a poacher's net, the mouse hears his cries, finds him, and nibbles through the thick cords to free his lion friend.  The moral of this story, in Pinkney's words, is that the meek sometimes trump the mighty.

I read this story in my children's literature class recently, so some discussions in our class lent insight into the differences between this modern version and the original tale.  Some of my classmates have read a version in which the lion gets a thorn in his paw and the mouse frees him.  Regardless of the differences, Pinkney brings this piece of traditional literature to life with his rich watercolor drawings and word-less pages.  The reader is forced to use his imagination to pull the pillars of the story together in his mind.  I am always in awe of Jerry Pinkney's illustrations, and this book certainly does not disappoint me.  Allow your students to draw upon their prior knowledge of the story (if they have heard it before), and open the classroom to a discussion of differences between the two (or more) versions.  It is a great way to appreciate rich artwork, and in the meantime, to apply a moral standard to real-life situations.