breakfast?" the lion asked
him.
"Breakfast?" said the mouse.
"Don't eat me today, please.
I'm off to see my girlfriend."
"Someone as small and ugly
as you couldn't have a
girlfriend."
"But I do! And if you let me
go I might be able to return
the favor."
A retelling of Aesop's fable will find new fans in this book by a well-respected collaborative team. The lion and the mouse share their forest home with numerous other animals; each has a reputation there.
"In the woods there lived a very lovely lion who was
like a sun, and a small mouse who was a busybody
and a glutton."
That changes the dynamic of the original tale, don't you think? The mouse makes a nuisance of himself one morning while in the lion's den uninvited. Not too surprising that he should find himself in a bit of a pickle. The lion grabs him by the tail, with plans to make a meal of him. Mouse pleads, Lion releases. Lucky the lion has such a sunny disposition.
When the lion finds himself in a tenuous position of his own, he must count on the mouse to live up to his promise of helping him. The mouse does exactly that, earning the lion's admiration and gratitude. It turns the tables on a contentious relationship that will last for a very long time.
Readers will admire the strong characters developed by Jairo Buitrago, and the fact that he continues their story with acts of kindness and friendship. It is a tale told with humor, and a contemporary bent. Rafael Yockteng's mixed-media illustrations 'were created with an 8B pencil with color added digitally'. This is another wonderful collaboration, and a book to be savored.
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