The Lion and the Mouse

Pinkney, J. (2009). The Lion and the Mouse. New York, NY: Little Brown Books For Young Readers.

Brief Annotation: After narrowly escaping capture by an owl, a mouse finds herself on the back of an awaking lion. The lion considers eating the mouse, but decides to let her go. When trappers set out a net and lion finds himself caught, mouse hears his roar and comes to the rescue, chewing him out of the net. The lion is grateful, and the mouse goes back to her children, bringing them a knot from the rope to chew on.

Genre: Fable

Grade Level:Pre-K-1

Readers who will like this: Readers who enjoy wordless stories, readers who like animals, readers who like to discuss what is happening in a story, readers who enjoy fables or looking at beautiful artwork.


Response/Rating (1-4): 4. It is apparent why this book won the 2010 Caldecott Medal. It is full of vibrant illustrations that are full of emotion and detail. The only words in the books are sounds such as the hooting of the owl, the putt-putt of the trapper’s jeep, the squeak of the mouse and the roar of the lion.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: What are some ways that we can read a story that doesn’t have words?


Reading Strategies Connection: Collaborative Books (Tompkins, 2009). In this strategy, the teacher and students can work together to write the words to this story. The teacher can assign one page of the book to each of the students, and it will be up to the students to come up with the words to tell the story of what is happening on that page (and possibly to illustrate that scene as well). After everyone is done writing the words for the page, the book will be put together and read. This strategy is perfect for this book because the book is wordless. Students can work on practicing writing skills and vocabulary usage as they work to write out their section of the story.