Rand Burkert

Rand and Nancy Ekholm Burkert retell the classic Aesopian fable of The Lion and the Mouse in this delightful picture-book, set in the Aha hills on the border of Botswana and Namibia. Disturbing the great King of the Beasts one day, when he mistakes him for a mountain to be climbed, the mouse pleads for his life, assuring his leonine captor that he might be able to aid him one day. Amused at the notion, the lion releases the mouse, little dreaming that this tiny murine creature will indeed come to his rescue, some time later...

Although I read a number of picture-book retellings of this fable as part of the Aesop project I conducted a few years ago, I somehow never stumbled across Mouse & Lion, and this despite my interest in the subject, and my great admiration for Nancy Ekholm Burkert's artwork. I am glad to have that omission rectified, as I found this an outstanding presentation. The narrative is engaging, fleshing out the interaction between mouse and lion in a convincing way, but it is the artwork that particularly stands out. Done in colored pencil and watercolor, the illustrations here are delicate, expressive, and completely charming. Burkert's mouse is modeled on the striped African grass mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio, and (like the lion) is beautifully depicted.

I appreciated Rand Burkert's note at the rear, regarding the choice to put the mouse first in the title, as it is he who is the true hero of the tale. I also appreciated Nancy Ekholm Burkert's note about her decision to place the story in the Aha hills, a location where Rhabdomys pumilio, Panthera leo and baobab trees might all coexist. It's interesting to me that contemporary retellers of this fable inevitably choose an African setting—Jerry Pinkney's Caldecott Medal-winning The Lion and the Mouse, for instance, is set on the African savannah—perhaps reflecting the fact that we think of lions as belonging to that continent, in the current day. Of course, when these fables we now attribute to Aesop were being penned by Greek and Roman authors—Babrius and Phaedrus mostly—there were still lions in the Middle East and, to a lesser extent, Europe. However that may be, this is a lovely retelling, and is one I would wholeheartedly recommend to picture-book readers looking for Aesopian retellings, or who appreciate beautiful artwork. I can't help but agree with the friend who commented that it was a travesty that this title didn't receive a Caldecott nod, at the very least. It certainly deserved it as much as the Pinkney.… (mehr)

Mouse & Lion is a retelling of the classic Aesop's fable. A lion gets angry at mouse because mouse accidentally steps on lion because he thought lion was a mountain. Lion threatens to kill mouse, but mouse stops him by saying that lion might need his help someday. Lion at first laughs at what mouse says, but later lion does indeed need mouse's help when he gets caught in a net. This book would be great for elementary school students because of the themes of friendship. It can be used as one of the books for a fable/folklore unit.… (mehr)