Once A Mouse: A Fable Cut in Wood by Marcia Brown, earned a Caldecott medal. Her
stunning wood cut prints illustrate this story. She successfully captures the
characters’ actions and emotions. The hermit’s face is thoughtful and
compassionate. The animals transform from terrified prey to ferocious predators.
At the
beginning of this Indian fable, we meet a hermit, who sits “thinking about big and little”. Suddenly, he hurries to save a mouse, and we
admire his compassion. When a cat approaches,
the hermit magically changes the mouse into another cat. No longer little, the
cat can defend itself. That night, a dog barks, and the hermit changes his cat
into a dog. When the mouse becomes a handsome, royal tiger, it swells with
pride. The hermit chides the tiger. “There is no need to give yourself such
airs.” After the hermit defends himself against the ungrateful tiger, we wonder what he thinks about big and little
at the end of the story.
This story
is read aloud on KidLitTV.
My Picture Book Talk for this story is here.
This
lesson is read aloud on my YouTube channel.
