THE LION AND THE MOUSE

by Aesop ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 1980

Aesop's fable of the mighty lion captured, the tiny mouse to-the-rescue, is here rendered as a phrase by phrase. . . frame by frame. . . opening by opening . . . cliffhanger. Throughout, the action is fragmented (""A mouse/ ran/ over/ the body of/ a sleeping lion"" takes seven pages); and when the drama escalates, we see only its constituents (when the lion roars, his open mouth; when the mouse begs to be released, the dangling mouse). Children must first compose the whole from the parts, which some find it difficult to do, and then link these assorted fragments one to another--without ever a full sentence or a complete picture. The suspense becomes, in effect, the story--and the moral, archaically phrased (""A change in circumstance can make the strong weak and the weak strong""), appears as an afterthought.

Pub Date: March 14, 1980

ISBN: 1602705542

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1980

Categories: CHILDREN'S