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Once a Mouse...
A hermit knows the magic to change a small mouse into a cat, a dog, and a majestic tiger -- and Marcia Brown's magical woodcuts bring this Indian fable to life with the mastery that won her her second Caldecott Medal.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
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About the author
Marcia Brown
33 books55 followersAn American children's book author and illustrator, and a high school teacher, Marcia Brown was born in Rochester, New York in 1918, and was educated at The New York State College for Teachers (now University at Albany). She taught at Cornwall High School in New York City, and published her first book, The Little Carousel, in 1946. She wrote and illustrated more than thirty books for children over the course of her career, winning three Caldecott Medals and six Caldecott Honors, as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal and the Regina Medal. She died in 2015.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 412 reviews
March 8, 2019
This story really got me thinking. So, the artwork was cut into wood and then put into pictures. It was beautiful and simple. The story is simple enough for a beginning story and I think, it can be studied for the rest of ones life.
A hermit sees a mouse about to be eaten by a hawk and saves him from the jaws of the bird. He loves the little mouses but many animals try to eat the beast. So he turns the mouse into a cat to defend it against a cat, but a dog preys on the cat. The cat is turned into a dog which is then preyed on by a tiger. So, now the mouse is a tiger.
Here’s the thing, does the mouse stay the same while his body changes or by changing the mouse to other creatures are you fundamentally changing the mouse. When you see the world as a cat, will you not act as a cat acts. Is it right to expect the mouse to stay a mouse when you change the mouse. When the mouse becomes a tiger, will it not be a tiger and act fierce and preen like a tiger. It is a tiger. Well, the hermit doesn’t like the creatures arrogance now and so he changes the creature back to a mouse.
I feel like the story, which is originally from India with a cast system, is saying to know your place in the system. You can’t step out of your place and you can’t move from cast to cast. There are 4 casts and 4 animals in the story. The mouse was the lowest cast and when changed into the tiger, the upper cast, he acted like a tiger. The mouse was gone on the inside. He forgot about being a mouse. In other ways, isn’t this like being a child and growing into an adult. As an adult, how easy is it to forget how we saw the world as a child and what it was like. We are adults and we can lose that childlike quality. Then there are people who are adults but still act like 3 year old spoiled children. That doesn’t seem to fit this story. hmmm. So the analogy is not perfect obviously. Just the things it made me think of.
It’s a very interesting take. I don’t know if it’s entirely correct, but it’s an interesting idea. I like when stories make me think.
The kids thought this was a funny story. The nephew laughed at the man with a diaper. I tried to tell him it wasn’t a diaper and it did little good. Frustrating. Still, he liked the story, but he didn’t like the end. He gave this 4 stars. The niece thought it was a good story, but she didn’t understand why he was made a mouse again. It wasn’t being mean, just acting arrogant. I told her that the hermit knew the tiger wanted to kill him. She said, oh. She didn’t see a total point to it. She gave this 3 stars.
A hermit sees a mouse about to be eaten by a hawk and saves him from the jaws of the bird. He loves the little mouses but many animals try to eat the beast. So he turns the mouse into a cat to defend it against a cat, but a dog preys on the cat. The cat is turned into a dog which is then preyed on by a tiger. So, now the mouse is a tiger.
Here’s the thing, does the mouse stay the same while his body changes or by changing the mouse to other creatures are you fundamentally changing the mouse. When you see the world as a cat, will you not act as a cat acts. Is it right to expect the mouse to stay a mouse when you change the mouse. When the mouse becomes a tiger, will it not be a tiger and act fierce and preen like a tiger. It is a tiger. Well, the hermit doesn’t like the creatures arrogance now and so he changes the creature back to a mouse.
I feel like the story, which is originally from India with a cast system, is saying to know your place in the system. You can’t step out of your place and you can’t move from cast to cast. There are 4 casts and 4 animals in the story. The mouse was the lowest cast and when changed into the tiger, the upper cast, he acted like a tiger. The mouse was gone on the inside. He forgot about being a mouse. In other ways, isn’t this like being a child and growing into an adult. As an adult, how easy is it to forget how we saw the world as a child and what it was like. We are adults and we can lose that childlike quality. Then there are people who are adults but still act like 3 year old spoiled children. That doesn’t seem to fit this story. hmmm. So the analogy is not perfect obviously. Just the things it made me think of.
It’s a very interesting take. I don’t know if it’s entirely correct, but it’s an interesting idea. I like when stories make me think.
The kids thought this was a funny story. The nephew laughed at the man with a diaper. I tried to tell him it wasn’t a diaper and it did little good. Frustrating. Still, he liked the story, but he didn’t like the end. He gave this 4 stars. The niece thought it was a good story, but she didn’t understand why he was made a mouse again. It wasn’t being mean, just acting arrogant. I told her that the hermit knew the tiger wanted to kill him. She said, oh. She didn’t see a total point to it. She gave this 3 stars.
December 18, 2018
Although I generally both appreciate and have even rather enjoyed both the featured narrative and the accompanying illustrations of Marcia Brown's Caldecott Medal wining Once a Mouse (and especially the presented messages of pride coming before a fall and that ungratefulness and arrogance might very easily have not so nice, not so comfortable, but inherently deserved consequences), I do have to admit that I to tend to find particularly the visual depictions of the hermit rather strange and visually creepy in both look and feel (and as such, especially his face). And while this is probably very much a personal preference and quibble, honestly, every time I look at that hermit, I really do seem to get nasty and unnerving shivers undulating down my back (and truth be told I do not ever get these same types of shivers when I look at, when I visualise Marcia Brown's pictorial renderings of the supposedly oh so ferocious and fearfully nasty tiger). Furthermore and indeed like with all of Marcia Brown's folklore adaptations I have perused to date, I also really do very much miss the inclusion of a supplemental author's note as to origin and genesis of her adaptation of this likely East Indian folktale (and actually even more so in the case of Once a Mouse, I guess, simply because while with her retellings of European folklore, the origins of the tales themselves are often at least partially known and familiar to me, but with Once a Mouse, I am quite literally totally in the dark, which is both frustrating and rather disappointing, as I also would not even know where to begin in order to engage in supplemental research and study). Still highly recommended is Once a Mouse, and surprisingly fresh and contemporary with and in its content and thematics (and indeed, a perfect book to read aloud for library story time, although with the I think necessary caveat that sensitive children might perhaps be frightened by the tiger or like me, might also find the depiction of the hermit's face somewhat uncanny and creepy).
November 27, 2012
I see how this story is a fable warning against boastfulness and teaching gratefulness. But I immediately focused on the philosophical slant: "One day a hermit sat thinking about big and little--" and then at the end "And the hermit sat thinking about big -- and little..."
Did the hermit come to any conclusions? Did he learn any lessons? This is what I think:
The hermit was sitting around thinking about size and why certain things are smaller and certain things are bigger. "Suddenly, he saw a mouse about to be snatched up by a crow." So instead of just thinking about size, the hermit starts thinking about injustice and how bigger things are going around gobbling smaller things and how unfair the world is. So he sets out to change it, one mouse at a time. But as he finds himself changing the mouse to bigger and bigger animals, he realizes that there is always going to be something bigger and/or more ferocious and that is just the way of things. The final straw came when his tiger-mouse pet thinks about killing him. The hermit, was like "Dude, are you serious? I totally made you who you are and you're going to turn on me like that?" Then the hermit stops and thinks about it. The whole time, he himself has been the bigger and more ferocious thing looming over the mouse. He's been thinking of the mouse as his pet, his thing to mold and shape, not a free mouse that needed some help getting by in the world. So, he turns the tiger-mouse back into a "humble, little mouse," and lets it return to its normal state of being. The hermit then goes back to "thinking about big--" and how big not only gobbles and is ferocious, but how big can be condescending, patronizing, colonizing and tyrannical. The hermit also thinks about little, too.
Did the hermit come to any conclusions? Did he learn any lessons? This is what I think:
The hermit was sitting around thinking about size and why certain things are smaller and certain things are bigger. "Suddenly, he saw a mouse about to be snatched up by a crow." So instead of just thinking about size, the hermit starts thinking about injustice and how bigger things are going around gobbling smaller things and how unfair the world is. So he sets out to change it, one mouse at a time. But as he finds himself changing the mouse to bigger and bigger animals, he realizes that there is always going to be something bigger and/or more ferocious and that is just the way of things. The final straw came when his tiger-mouse pet thinks about killing him. The hermit, was like "Dude, are you serious? I totally made you who you are and you're going to turn on me like that?" Then the hermit stops and thinks about it. The whole time, he himself has been the bigger and more ferocious thing looming over the mouse. He's been thinking of the mouse as his pet, his thing to mold and shape, not a free mouse that needed some help getting by in the world. So, he turns the tiger-mouse back into a "humble, little mouse," and lets it return to its normal state of being. The hermit then goes back to "thinking about big--" and how big not only gobbles and is ferocious, but how big can be condescending, patronizing, colonizing and tyrannical. The hermit also thinks about little, too.
January 14, 2015
Regarding Once a Mouse...; I liked, but didn't love, it. I did wonder about the word choices for "hermit" and his use of "magic" -- but Brown does seem to have spent a great deal of time studying her subjects and I suspect she meant to be culturally accurate and I appreciate that my cover flap mentions the source material as a tale from the The Hitopadesa (which I now want to read!) The illustrations, though not in a style I prefer, are beautiful and engaging. I especially love the expression on the tiger's face when he "peacocked about the forest, lording it over the other animals." I do feel this story would still feel fresh and interesting for children today, and the "moral" remains relevant, too.
February 4, 2017
This is a retelling of a traditional Indian fable. A hermit with magical powers tries to help a tiny mouse. But as the mouse is transformed into ever larger animals, he loses his timidity and his sense of gratitude for having been rescued.
It’s an interesting fable, and I think the story has appeal for children (and their parents), much as Aesop’s fables do. However, I am not a great fan of Brown’s illustrations in this case.
Her woodcuts are a different technique from the beautiful illustrations in Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper. I was intrigued by the style, but I found the color palette she uses here to be drab and dark.
It’s an interesting fable, and I think the story has appeal for children (and their parents), much as Aesop’s fables do. However, I am not a great fan of Brown’s illustrations in this case.
Her woodcuts are a different technique from the beautiful illustrations in Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper. I was intrigued by the style, but I found the color palette she uses here to be drab and dark.
March 9, 2019
Caldecott Winner based on an ancient Indian fable. Art was wood carvings.
I really didn't care for it, not the story or the art. My son said the lesson was if you have magic you can make animals bigger but don't make predators bigger than you are. So he said it was good. Close enough.
I really didn't care for it, not the story or the art. My son said the lesson was if you have magic you can make animals bigger but don't make predators bigger than you are. So he said it was good. Close enough.
April 22, 2018
Revised Review (For Reread):
*Original Rating: 4 stars*
*Rating Now: 5 stars*
Now, I had read Marcia Brown’s retelling of the ancient Indian folktale “Once a Mouse…” many years ago and I had actually written a review for it years ago (some of my thoughts in the original review will be restated in this all new review)! So, I decided to read this book again after all of these years to see if I still felt the same way I did years ago and surprisingly enough, I found out that I liked this book better the second time around than I did the first time (which is so awesome)!
The story started off with a wise old hermit thinking about big and little, when suddenly, he sees a mouse being chased by a crow and he ends up saving the mouse from the crow. From then on, the hermit started taking care of the mouse until a cat came into the clearing and was about to eat the mouse until the hermit changed the mouse into an even bigger cat. Afterwards, the mouse kept getting threatened with a bigger animal until the hermit finally transformed the mouse into a tiger and the tiger, who was once a mouse, starts taking advantage of its huge size.
What will the hermit do with the tiger now?
Read this book to find out!
Marcia Brown had done an excellent job with both writing and illustrating this ancient tale from India. I loved the way that Marcia Brown made this story so dramatic, especially since I was sitting on the edge of my seat trying to see if the mouse will survive in the forest with all of the dangers such as a cat, a dog and a tiger, threatening it. I also loved the fact that Marcia Brown tackled the importance of being grateful to the people who helped you as it provides a great lesson for children to learn about being thankful to the people who have helped them out of a dangerous or complicated situation. Marcia Brown’s illustrations are creative and rough-edged as the characters have jagged limbs and the coloring that is the most prevalent in this book are red, black, white and brown which creates a traditional atmosphere to this story.
The only problem I had with this book was that the narrative was a bit of a struggle to get through because the sentences were broken up, meaning that one half of the sentence would be on one page and the other half of the sentence continues onto the next page. This can be extremely confusing for smaller children who are reading this book and parents might want to help their children read through this book to help their children understand the book much better.
Overall, “Once a Mouse” is a truly wonderful tale about how it is important to show gratitude towards someone who has helped you get out of a sticky situation, or in this case, four sticky situations! This book will surely become a great classic for children who are interested in Indian culture. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the sentence structure might be a bit too difficult for smaller children to read through.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
September 17, 2014
I enjoyed this book not only because of the beautiful artwork, but because of the moral of the story. I feel that children who read (or are read) this book will be able to not only identify with the hermit, but also see themselves in the mouse. It would be an excellent teaching tool for teaching about greed/gratitude. For a child's whole life they are cared for and gifted- but what happens when that goes to far? This has a sweet but matter of fact way of not only showing what happens when we are selfish but allows children to experience the disappointment of the hermit.
January 29, 2019
Caldecott Medal: 1962
May 10, 2019
Taken from the classic Indian collection of fables, the Hitopadesha, Once a Mouse... follows the story of an old hermit, who, seeing a tiny mouse continuously in danger from the other animals, seeks to protect him by changing him into progressively larger animals. Transformed first into a cat, then a dog, and finally into a tiger, the mouse becomes proud - resentful of the hermit's reminder of his humble beginnings - until finally the hermit must take back his gift.
Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1962, Brown's book is illustrated with bold woodcut art, in brown, red and yellow tones, making for a visually engaging picture-book. Billed as a fable that depicts a "tiger's fall from grace," teaching the necessity of humility, I couldn't help reading it as a reflection of man's arrogance, which I strongly suspect was not the original intention. Maybe the error here is not the tiger's, but the hermit's: for seeking to change nature, and fit it to his own ideas of morality. In any case, I think young readers will probably just enjoy the story, rather than seeking to analyze its message. Definitely worth a look, for those readers with an interest in folklore, and fables.
Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1962, Brown's book is illustrated with bold woodcut art, in brown, red and yellow tones, making for a visually engaging picture-book. Billed as a fable that depicts a "tiger's fall from grace," teaching the necessity of humility, I couldn't help reading it as a reflection of man's arrogance, which I strongly suspect was not the original intention. Maybe the error here is not the tiger's, but the hermit's: for seeking to change nature, and fit it to his own ideas of morality. In any case, I think young readers will probably just enjoy the story, rather than seeking to analyze its message. Definitely worth a look, for those readers with an interest in folklore, and fables.
April 13, 2015
This is a wonderful tale from India, about being grateful and remembering your humble beginnings in life and those who have helped you along the way.
The illustrations are gorgeous woodcuts, with mostly muted tones and a splash of red here and there. Our girls liked the tale, but I'm not sure they took any deep meaning from it.
This book was selected as one of the books for the January 2015 - Quarterly Caldecott discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
The illustrations are gorgeous woodcuts, with mostly muted tones and a splash of red here and there. Our girls liked the tale, but I'm not sure they took any deep meaning from it.
This book was selected as one of the books for the January 2015 - Quarterly Caldecott discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
August 22, 2012
The woodcut illustrations here are absolutely marvelous, full of colorful and imaginative detail. The story is based upon an ancient Indian tale, about a meditative hermit who befriends a lowly mouse by changing him into a mighty tiger. The mouse/tiger is an ungrateful pet however and is returned to his fate as a mouse and made to fend for himself once more. What really sets this book above others is Marcia Brown's ingenious and lovely woodcut pictures which are a delight to look at. Quite a splendid picture book, well deserving of the Caldecott Medal.
January 10, 2013
Lush, colorful woodcuts make this picture book a visual treat to accompany its excellent message and simple text. A hermit's meditation is interrupted by a mouse whose life is threatened by a crow. He saves the mouse and befriends it, and even uses magic to change it into a cat, a dog, and a tiger as other animals frighten it. Eventually, the mouse becomes too arrogant and even plans to attack the hermit who sends him back to his original form. That foolish mouse should have quit while he was ahead. He had found a good life, but forgot where he came from.
June 25, 2013
I can definitely see why this book would be a Caldecott award winner. Once a Mouse is the story about a hermit who decides to help out a mouse who is getting ready to be attacked. The hermit magically turns the mouse into a cat. Later the cat gets threatened, so the hermit again changes him into something bigger. This continues few times until the mouse is a tiger. The tiger is not only not threatened by other animals, he is very boastful around them. He is also very ungrateful to the hermit for all that he has done for him. The tiger/mouse decides he is going to attact the hermit, but the hermit is not so sure about that.
This is a great fable because it teaches some very valuable lessons about not being boastful and also being grateful for what others do to help you out.
Obviously, the images in this book are going to be great since it is a Caldecott winner, but when you first look at them, you may not think they are all that. Then, you realize that they are wood carvings, and it makes them so much better. I think the pictures really help tell the story. They really show the emotions on the different animals and the hermit. I also feel that the wood carvings go with the story because Marcia Brown is making something greater out of what she is given kind of like the hermit is. He continues to make great things out of small things, while she is creating this amazing story out of a piece of wood.
I would recommend this book to Kindergarten through third graders. I think these students would understand what the fable is trying to teach them. In fact a lesson I would do with the students is for them to write the moral at the end of this fable (something this fable is missing). It would be a great way for the teacher to understand if the students are comprehending the story and get the meaning of the lesson at the same time.
This is a great fable because it teaches some very valuable lessons about not being boastful and also being grateful for what others do to help you out.
Obviously, the images in this book are going to be great since it is a Caldecott winner, but when you first look at them, you may not think they are all that. Then, you realize that they are wood carvings, and it makes them so much better. I think the pictures really help tell the story. They really show the emotions on the different animals and the hermit. I also feel that the wood carvings go with the story because Marcia Brown is making something greater out of what she is given kind of like the hermit is. He continues to make great things out of small things, while she is creating this amazing story out of a piece of wood.
I would recommend this book to Kindergarten through third graders. I think these students would understand what the fable is trying to teach them. In fact a lesson I would do with the students is for them to write the moral at the end of this fable (something this fable is missing). It would be a great way for the teacher to understand if the students are comprehending the story and get the meaning of the lesson at the same time.
August 18, 2009
This story about pride and being true to one’s self comes with the taglines of “from Ancient India” and “fable cut in wood”. It begins with a hermit who is thinking about big and little when he meets a mouse that is in danger of being snatched up by a crow. Throughout the narrative, the hermit continuously saves the defenseless, humble mouse by using magic to turn him into bigger animals, until he is a large, proud tiger who flaunts his prowess to the other animals of the forest. This action upsets the hermit who reminds the tiger of what he used to be, which angers the tiger who, in turn, thinks about killing the hermit. The hermit reads the tiger’s mind and promptly changes the tiger back to the mouse he originally was and banishes him for his hubris. The mouse is never seen again, while the hermit goes back to thinking about big and little, which is exactly what the reader is left to consider. In a unique style, the sentences are not punctuated on the first page they appear and instead, go on to following pages where an interpretive illustration is located. This creates a somewhat suspenseful effect that will hopefully engage the audience during a read aloud. The illustrations are done in dark green, dull red and muted yellow with bolded lines, which provides the very intriguing woodcut effect. This book would be appropriate for ages 4-8. Once a Mouse… won the Caldecott Award in 1962.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2019
The woodcuts for this book are superior to anything else in the medium that I have seen. Considering the quality of Marcia Brown's artwork, I'm really not at all surprised that this book won the 1962 Caldecott Medal.
Once a Mouse...tells the cautionary fable of a tiny, frightened mouse who comes across a philosopher/magician hermit pondering thoughts of big and little, while sitting in the forest. To protect the timid mouse from its natural foes the hermit turns it into a cat, and then proceeds to augment the creature's status in the food chain to guard it from each new predator, until that once fearful little mouse has become a powerful tiger.
Pride overtakes the newly-morphed tiger, however, and it forgets that were it not for the grace of the hermit, it would still be an endangered mouse. When the hermit confronts the resentful tiger, the tiger begins to plot the man's downfall, but the hermit is perceptive and will not allow ingratitude to continue unpunished.
The lessons taught by this story are subtle, leaving a lot of room for readers to draw their own various conclusions. I do believe that a thoughtful read of the book, however, will give readers something to consider for a while. I would give one and a half stars to Once a Mouse....
Once a Mouse...tells the cautionary fable of a tiny, frightened mouse who comes across a philosopher/magician hermit pondering thoughts of big and little, while sitting in the forest. To protect the timid mouse from its natural foes the hermit turns it into a cat, and then proceeds to augment the creature's status in the food chain to guard it from each new predator, until that once fearful little mouse has become a powerful tiger.
Pride overtakes the newly-morphed tiger, however, and it forgets that were it not for the grace of the hermit, it would still be an endangered mouse. When the hermit confronts the resentful tiger, the tiger begins to plot the man's downfall, but the hermit is perceptive and will not allow ingratitude to continue unpunished.
The lessons taught by this story are subtle, leaving a lot of room for readers to draw their own various conclusions. I do believe that a thoughtful read of the book, however, will give readers something to consider for a while. I would give one and a half stars to Once a Mouse....
February 17, 2013
Once A Mouse … by Marcia Brown is a fable or folktale from ancient India. It won The Caldecott Medal in 1962. The age group this book is intended for is nursery to primary. The book is about a hermit that saved a mouse from a crow, and every time another animal came to threaten the mouse, the hermit changed the mouse into a mightier animal until he was the mightiest tiger.
I like the moral of the story and the illustrations fit the story well. I’m not usually fond of the muted colors, but it worked well for this story. There were a couple different shades of red and green with some black. I also liked the way the white was used to accent, highlight, and create some contrast within the illustration. The story itself had several morals; remember where you came from, be grateful for everything that is given to you, and the difference big and little can make. I would recommend this book to young readers because the story is interesting and the art work is intriguing. My preference in children’s illustrations is more colors and a little brighter, but for this book I think the illustrations complimented the story.
August 6, 2016
Well deserving of a Caldecott medal, the lovely wood cut illustrations tell a tale equal in beauty. Based on an Indian fable, a hermit meditates on the subject of big and little. Fate brings to him a small mouse about to be devoured by a crow. Rescuing the tiny mouse, he also feeds and nourishes it. Then, a cat creeps up to consume the mouse, and the hermit magically changed the mouse into a larger cat.
Now a cat, he is vulnerable to dogs who howl and scare. And, another morphing occurs when the cat is changed to a large dog and then a large tiger. Imagine the hermit's surprise when rather than gratitude, the mouse/tiger becomes very prideful, boasting about his size and parading in the forest, boastfully and with disrespect, the mouse/tiger thinks he might be able to devour the hemit.
Forgetting that it was the hermit who saved him, the hermit scolds the tiger reminding him that he would be dead if not for his intervention. Now, the hermit changes the tiger back into a mouse who is stalked by a mighty tiger.
A story of a man who cared to help and the recipient who forgot his beginnings, this is indeed a lovely tale.
Now a cat, he is vulnerable to dogs who howl and scare. And, another morphing occurs when the cat is changed to a large dog and then a large tiger. Imagine the hermit's surprise when rather than gratitude, the mouse/tiger becomes very prideful, boasting about his size and parading in the forest, boastfully and with disrespect, the mouse/tiger thinks he might be able to devour the hemit.
Forgetting that it was the hermit who saved him, the hermit scolds the tiger reminding him that he would be dead if not for his intervention. Now, the hermit changes the tiger back into a mouse who is stalked by a mighty tiger.
A story of a man who cared to help and the recipient who forgot his beginnings, this is indeed a lovely tale.
September 24, 2016
Book summary: This is an award-winning book. This book is about big and little. It is about a mouse that is rescued, then feared by a cat turned into a cat by the powers of the magic man, then feared by a dog then turned into a dog, then feared by a tiger then turned into a tiger. The tiger was ungrateful so the man turned him back into a mouse and ended the book with thinking about big and little.
Grade level: K-4
Appropriate classroom use: This could be viewed as a lesson to be grateful for the skin you're in. I'm honestly not sure how I would use this in the classroom. I don't think kindergartners would like this book.
Indiv. students who would benefit: working on their reading skills.
Small group use: Identifying the animals and matching the letter such as T goes to Tiger, and M for Mouse.
Whole class use: I don't think this would be appropriate to read aloud. This book talks about how the tiger has thoughts of killing.
Related books:Works by Marcia Brown such as Stone Soup, Caldecott medal winners, and picture books.
Multimedia connection: Available in hardcover and paperback.
Grade level: K-4
Appropriate classroom use: This could be viewed as a lesson to be grateful for the skin you're in. I'm honestly not sure how I would use this in the classroom. I don't think kindergartners would like this book.
Indiv. students who would benefit: working on their reading skills.
Small group use: Identifying the animals and matching the letter such as T goes to Tiger, and M for Mouse.
Whole class use: I don't think this would be appropriate to read aloud. This book talks about how the tiger has thoughts of killing.
Related books:Works by Marcia Brown such as Stone Soup, Caldecott medal winners, and picture books.
Multimedia connection: Available in hardcover and paperback.
August 12, 2017
My 5-year-old found this at an estate sale yesterday. It's the 1962 Caldecott Medal winner, but inside the front cover was the emblem of a school library and it was stamped in black ink "Discarded: Obsolete."
Ouch.
Actually, the art work is incredibly modern, the type that is unique and rarely goes out of date. The story is based on an Indian fable and is simple and complex at the same time. At one point, though, when the tiger gets angry and wants revenge, the tiger shouts, "I will kill him!"
It's funny, though, that a library would consider this "obsolete" and yet most likely carries multiple DVDs which depict violent murders by humans.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather stick with the tiger.
Ouch.
Actually, the art work is incredibly modern, the type that is unique and rarely goes out of date. The story is based on an Indian fable and is simple and complex at the same time. At one point, though, when the tiger gets angry and wants revenge, the tiger shouts, "I will kill him!"
It's funny, though, that a library would consider this "obsolete" and yet most likely carries multiple DVDs which depict violent murders by humans.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather stick with the tiger.
August 23, 2010
3.5 - I think I liked this more than Julia. I was intrigued that it comes from an Indian folklore and just the fact that it's different than any other childrens books we've seen so far apealled to me.
I'm going to keep this short because it's been done here a few times already. A hermit, after seeing a little mouse in danger of being killed, uses magic to turn him into a strong tiger. After being a tiger for awhile this started to go to his head and he forgot that he once used to be a tiny little mouse. The hermit sends the tiger out of the forest and the story ends suddenly. I would have liked the ending to have been a little more subtle.
I'm going to keep this short because it's been done here a few times already. A hermit, after seeing a little mouse in danger of being killed, uses magic to turn him into a strong tiger. After being a tiger for awhile this started to go to his head and he forgot that he once used to be a tiny little mouse. The hermit sends the tiger out of the forest and the story ends suddenly. I would have liked the ending to have been a little more subtle.
October 5, 2017
It’s hard to believe this book is really illustrated with woodcuts. The drawings look almost like they were stenciled onto the page! I like that the story is framed by the hermit thinking about big and little, but that the author never comes right out to tell us the message of the story. This opens up opportunities for discussion between a child and the adult reading the book, but also gives us a pretty big hint toward the story’s theme. I think my favorite image is the close-up of the hermit banishing the tiger back to the forest to turn back into a mouse. It’s one of the simplest images in the entire book, but also the most powerful and emotional.
May 14, 2014
A wonderful fable from ancient India about a mouse who got too big for his britches. The mouse is transformed by a hermit who saves him from a crow. Each time he is transformed into a bigger animal as predators keep coming after him. Finally the mouse becomes a tiger and is too proud and ungrateful. The hermit offends and humiliates the tiger who then threatens to kill him. The hermit turns him back into a mouse and continues meditating on big and small.
This is a wonderful conversation starter for parents and children on humility, pride, grateful ness, compassion, bullies, etc.
An additional level would be to analyze the hermit's behavior.
This is a wonderful conversation starter for parents and children on humility, pride, grateful ness, compassion, bullies, etc.
An additional level would be to analyze the hermit's behavior.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2012
The story of a man who is contemplating big and little, when he sees a mouse almost get eaten by a crow. He saves the mouse, and then to continue protecting it, he keeps changing it into different animals, until it ends up as a tiger. Once the mouse is a tiger, however, he forgets all the good that had been done for him and becomes arrogant. The old man decides to change him back into a mouse again.
One of the things that I liked most about this simple little story, was how each page left you in suspense of what would happen next. Very fun and a good moral.
One of the things that I liked most about this simple little story, was how each page left you in suspense of what would happen next. Very fun and a good moral.
May 2, 2018
I really did enjoy the main message of this story. The illustrations were also very unique. However, I would say that this story would be too "dull" for a preschool classroom. There are elements that I think a preschool classroom may find amusing, such as the main character turning the mouse into many different animals. However, I believe elementary students would appreciate this book more than preschoolers. While reading this story out loud I would emphasize the type of animals the hermit was turning the mouse into and why he chose those specific animals.
January 2, 2008
Should be required reading not just for children, but for adults as well. An old, wise man takes pity on a mouse and changes him into a bigger and bigger creature until it is a tiger, and the most powerful animal in the forest. But the creature quickly forgets its humble roots and lords over its status with the other animals. The wise man reduces it to a mouse again. My deepest respects for the wood cutting artist – that is NOT easy to do, especially with so many colors.
January 19, 2015
I was quite impressed with the illustrations in this fable...the illustrations were cut in wood. The animals, particularly the tiger and the cat, were very expressive and did a wonderful job of conveying emotion. An older man, called the hermit, sees a mouse in trouble and rescues it. Then he uses magic to Change the mouse into a cat, a dog and then a tiger. But despite the man's help and protection, the tiger becomes quite proud and ungrateful. Lesson taught to be grateful.
December 17, 2014
This is an interesting Indian fable about the dangers of pride. The writing is clear and straight-forward, and short enough to share with pre-school or early elementary children. The woodcuts themselves are lovely and energetic, but I was not impressed by the dull reds and ambers that were selected for the pictures.
September 22, 2012
Illustrated by the author using woodcuts and watercolor. Winner of the 1962 Caldecott Medal. I liked the story and the illustrations but what I really liked was the rhythm created by the illustration and page breaks. It was "natural" how the book was meant to be read. Additionally, the illustrations were quite simple but were able to portray emotion very well.
January 15, 2015
1962 Caldecott Winner. Favorite Illustration: The first page with the hermit sitting under the tree.
I liked this story about humility and gratitude, but it fell just a little flat for me. I did really like the detail in the wood cut illustration, though, and I felt that they supported the origin of the story well.
I liked this story about humility and gratitude, but it fell just a little flat for me. I did really like the detail in the wood cut illustration, though, and I felt that they supported the origin of the story well.
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