Jerry Pinkney generously shares his beautiful paintings in the form of picture books. The Lion and The Mouse is one brilliant example of a (nearly) wordless picture that beckons children to gaze at the pages. Do you notice the pattern on the title page or the dark brown splotch of fur behind the mouse just after it escapes an owl? Let's talk about each magnifient illistration. What might the creatures be thinking and feeling? What's happening? His author's note reads, "For me, this story offers far more than a simple moral of how the meek can trump the mighty. . . these engaging characters led me to make the story even fuller by providing a sense of family and setting." Pinkney, a masterful artist and storyteller, was rewarded with a Caldecott Honor for this book.
Hollie Michaels has Readers theater: the Lion and Mouse Script. Sherri Cheshire has The Lion and the Mouse Emergent Reader. Fireside Tales has The Lion and the Mouse - An Aesop's Fable.
