Caldecott Monday: The Lion & the Mouse

Jerry Pinkney’s The Lion & the Mouse is a wordless retelling of the Aesop’s fable of the same name. Or almost wordless: there’s no written narrative, but there are a few words that represent sounds rather like the BAMs! on a comic book page, except representing animal noises (“squeak squeak squeak”) or a puttering jeep (“putt putt putt”).

It’s rather splendid. The illustrations are lovely, and I think having those few words adds a little depth & richness to the book, as if you are hearing the sounds as you walk through the landscape.