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
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