Lion and the Mouse By Jerry Pinkney

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009. ISBN 9780316013567

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Jerry Pinkney retells Aesop’s classic fable the Lion and the mouse through illustrations and a few words. The mouse running away from an owl flees into the paws of a lion. The lion lets the mouse live. The mouse in return frees the lion when it is entangled in a hunter’s net. The moral of the story proves that little friends may prove to be great friends.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
People of all ages will enjoy this book. The illustrations are breathtaking. Jerry Pinkney’s use of pencil, watercolor, and colored pencils on paper provide so many intricate details that you can easily see what the book is about. When you pick up this book your eyes are immediately drawn to the details. Pinkney uses cross hatching for the shading instead of short choppy stokes. He uses tints and shades of yellow to play off the African grasslands. He adds more water to dilute the colors which make the pencil strokes more transparent. The use of foreground, middle ground and background are evident in almost all of his illustrations. You get a great depth perception and perspective with the large objects in the foreground which are sharp and clean. The background objects get more blurred and smaller and are not full of details. The lion drawings have warm colors more reds oranges, and yellow and the backgrounds have more cool colors with blues, purples and greens. Pinkney uses different points of view from an aerial to ground views to show different settings. The intricate details will keep the older children engaged and will capture the younger children’s vision of what is transpiring throughout the story. The depth and beauty of each portion of the pictures lets you see it is a true masterpiece.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 15)) A nearly wordless exploration of Aesop's fable of symbiotic mercy that is nothing short of masterful.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November 2009 (Vol. 63, No. 3)) Aesop tales are usually more about the morals than the animal actors; here’s a retelling that puts the animals front and center and breathes a note of furry reality into the proceedings.

5. CONNECTIONS
*Other books for children about fables:
Rocco, John. WOLF WOLF! ISBN 9781423100126
Tingle, Tim. WHEN TURTLE GREW FEATHERS: A FOLKTALE FROM THE CHOCTAW NATION. ISBN 9780874837773
Stone, Chuck. 2003. SQUIZZY THE BLACK SQUIRREL: A FABULOUS FABLE OF FRIENDSHIP. ISBN 9780940880719
Hartman, Bob. 2002. THE WOLF WHO CRIED BOY. ISBN 9780399235788
* Gather other books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and compare and contrast their illustrations to THE LION AND THE MOUSE.
Grifalconi, Ann. 2007. AIN’T NOBODY A STRANGER TO ME. Illus. by Jerry Pinkney. ISBN 9780786818570
Andersen, Hans Christian. 1999. THE UGLY DUCKLING. Adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. ISBN 9780688159320