Once a Mouse

A mouse is rescued from a crow by a hermit/magician. The hermit turns him into a cat, then a dog, and at last a seriously enormous tiger. The tiger becomes vain and loses gratitude for the hermit. But the hermit will not stand to let the proud tiger forget that it was once a mouse.

Marcia Brown's gorgeous woodcuts fill the pages in shades of red, brown, and green. Her simple, sparse prose tells this Indian fable of pride leading to destruction. The ending is a bit chilling. This is not one of those light and fluffy picture books where everyone gets a happy ending, regardless of how much they've messed up. But children need to read books where truly bad actions have appropriate consequences.Once a Mouse is one of those books.

Review by Lauren Shearer Lauren Shearer writes words for fun and profit. She also makes films, but everyone knows you can't make a profit doing that. Her other hobby is consistently volunteering way too much of her time. You can read more of her reviews here.

Review by Lauren Shearer
Lauren Shearer writes words for fun and profit. She also makes films, but everyone knows you can't make a profit doing that. Her other hobby is consistently volunteering way too much of her time. You can read more of her reviews here.