Jerry Pinkney

The Lion and The Mouse

Aesop's Fable
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney

This classic tale is suited for PreSchool through third grade. This book is a wordless picture book; however don’t let the lack of words turn you away from it. The illustrations by Jerry Pinkney are out of the world. The wonderful large pictures make up for the lack of words. The story is based on Aesop’s Fable, The Lion and the Mouse. The lion does a favor for the mouse by letting him go and not eating him. The mouse says he will repay him if he lets him go. However the lion find this funny and thinks there is nothing that the small mouse could do for them. When the lion is caught in a trap the mouse is the one to help him.

Because this retelling of Aesop's fable is presented here with almost no words, it will challenge parents, teachers and others doing the "reading" to find words worthy of doing justice to Pinkney's art. It's just that gorgeous. I've never encountered Pinkney's work previously and am now looking forward to discovering what other wonders have come from his hands and to collecting and sharing them.

Other works by Jerry Pinkney are: Rikki Tikki, Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, The Talking Eggs, John Henry, and many more.