Mouse and Lion

Mouse and Lion 

By Rand Burkert

Illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert

Mouse and Lion is Aesop's fable, charmingly retold. In this retelling, Mouse is hurrying home when he accidentally mistook Lion for a mountain and scampered right over. Lion is insulted and decides to eat Mouse for such impertinence. Because of Mouse's amusing attempt at bravery, and declaration that someday he may be helpful to Lion, Lion decides to let Mouse go. As in the original fable, Lion later gets caught in a net and Mouse helps him escape, thus proving that even small animals like mice have their uses.

This story gains its momentum from the fact that it is already well-known and loved. In and of itself, the words of the story are fine, though not outstanding. The author tweaks the story slightly here and there, which makes it fun and unique.

But the illustrations are really what make this book noteworthy. The illustrator, who incidentally illustrated the first edition of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (one of my favorite books! I still remember the illustrations from that first edition.) works mostly in earth tones in this story. The pictures are detailed and accurate, yet uncluttered. I especially appreciated that the mouse pictured in this story is native to Africa (by my reckoning, a four-striped grass mouse): a mouse that a lion might actually come in contact with!

In general, this is a beautiful book. In my opinion, it's about neck-and-neck with Jerry Pinkney's The Lion and the Mouse. One obvious difference that could be either a strength or a weakness, depending on your situation, is that this version has words, while Jerry Pinkney's doesn't have many.

Check them both out and compare for yourself!

Check out Mouse and Lion at Scholastic