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The Lion and the Mouse
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The Lion and the Mouse is the Caldecott Medal-winning Children's picture book in 2010 that is written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.The book was published in 2009 and in the following year (2010), Jerry Pinkney received the Caldecott Medal for the drawings in his book Pinkney's book is just a picture book about a lion who is the fiercest and strongest one in the animal kingdom, the mouse then accidentally runs into the lion, thinking it was the end of his life because he knew that no lion would generous enough to let him go. The lion surprisingly spares the mouse’s life and lets him go; In return, the mouse spares the lions' life by saving the lion from a human trap.

Author
Jerry Pinkney was born on December 22, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pinkney states that "[he] took an interest in drawing early in [his] life and that [he] realized that [he would] rather sit and draw than to do anything else". He suffered dyslexia as a child which makes it harder for him to socialize, but one of the benefits of it was that he became extremely talented with drawing as we see today in his "The Lion and the Mouse" picture book. Pinkney also received a full scholarship award to Museum College of Arts after graduating from high school. Pinkney started illustrating books ever since 1964 and now has published over a hundred books, such as Goin' Somewhere Special, Little Red Riding Hood, The Talking Eggs, God Bless the Child etc.; He also has been awarded a Caldecott Medal, five Caldecott Honour Medals and five New York Times "Best Illustrated Books".

Plot Summary
The Lion and the Mouse written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney (2009) is about a protagonist lion who is the fiercest and strongest out of all the animals in the animal kingdom whereas the mouse, the other protagonist in the story, who is just a tiny creature trying to survive, ends up being the hero of the story by rescuing such a fierce and strong lion from a trap. The illustration starts off with a bright and beautiful scene of the Africa where all the animals, such as lions, giraffes, zebras, elephants, monkeys, etc., come together. The scene emphasizes on the lion which shows that the lion is the most powerful animal in the area. Although the mouse is not shown in the first scene, but later shows up on the second page when all of animals are asleep, illustrates the surreal feel that Pinkney is trying to portray; Usually rodents, such as mice, tend to sleep during the day and are awaken during the night to find resources.

One day, the mouse was wondering around where he accidentally lands on the lion’s back. The lion then grabs the mouse by his tail and looks as if he was about to eat the mouse. Luckily for the mouse, the lion decides to let the mouse go and the mouse runs back to his family.

The lion then wonders off into the forest, thinking it was safe because no other animals would dare to bother him, and probably did not expect what happened to him afterwards to occur. The lion was caught in a trap that humans had created and he was not able to come out. He roared and roared and tried everything possible to free himself, but was not able to. Fortunately, the mouse was near where the lion had been trapped; with the mouse’s tiny, sharp teeth, he then starts nibbling on the net. Hours went by, the mouse was still nibbling, but he did not give up. All of the sudden, the lion falls out of the trap and was freed. The mouse, who is a thousand times smaller than the lion, is able to help the lion and set him free.

Morals
"Little friends may prove great friends" ". This book contains many different moral meanings, but one of the most important one is that although the mouse is a tiny creature and who others may not think can be that important, can too save someone who is as fierce and strong as the lion. Just because the lion, who is fierce and strong, does not mean that he can protect himself and not rely on others. It teaches kids to not judge others before knowing them and the most important one is that friends come in all different shapes and sizes, but just because they are dissimilar to you, does not mean they are not good friends.

"When kindness is sowed upon others, it will be received in full at a later time". The lion was very kind to the mouse when he spared the mouse's life even though the lion's reputation is to eat any living thing that he sees. The lion's kindness towards the mouse paid off when the lion was trapped in a net, but luckily the mouse was able to help and spare the lion's life as well by chewing on the net that freed the lion. This teaches to young kids and even adults that being kind to others will have its towards in the end.

Setting
The Lion and the Mouse takes place in Africa. It is located in the "North of Tanzania and [passes through] the North-West of Kenya". The first page of the illustration in the book includes a scene of the beautiful desert of Serengeti where there are the largest amounts of all the biggest terrestrial mammals in the world. Serengeti is also known for its largest population of lions which suggests why Jerry Pinkney had picked this location; the lion in the book is suggested as the fiercest and strongest of all the other mammals which concludes that picking Serengeti makes the book more realistic.

Critics Reception
The Lion and the Mouse was published on September 1, 2009 in a hard-cover published and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. The reception of this illustrated book is quite positive since it has received the 2010Caldecott Medal award and was nominate for the 2010 Hans Christian Anderson Award.

Many critics and reviewers gave positive feedbacks to Pinkney's Lion and Mouse version because it brings back childhood memories to readers, reasonable morals that teaches kids and even adults and as well as vivid imagery that comes with the book. Parents might think that because it is a picture book, that it will be easy for kids to follow, but Pinkney's work does not just allow kids to follow, but it [challenges readers to get involved], explore and grasp each scenes with great details. Roger Sutton states that great books do not need texts to explain and describe what is happening, but it leaves readers with questions of why? He then reveals that Pinkney's Lion and Mouse is a great example of such books.