Nicolas, Where Have You Been?

by Leo Lionni

When the young mouse Nicolas sets out across the great meadow alone in search of ripe red berries, he is grabbed up by the claws of a huge bird and carried high into the sky. But that is only the beginning of Nicolas's adventure. How he gets the berries he was hoping to find, and learns to trust the very creatures he thought were his enemies, makes this Leo Lionni fable one that young children will want to hear again and again.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Birds, Animals, Adventure, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 highly acclaimed children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner--for Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. Leo Lionni died in October of 1999 at his home in Tuscany, Italy, at the age of 89.

Leo Lionni has gained international renown for his paintings, graphic designs, illustrations, and sculpture, as well as for his books for children. He was born in Holland in 1910 of Dutch parents, and although his education did not include formal art courses (in fact, he has a doctorate in economics from the University of Genoa), he spent much of his free time as a child in Amsterdam's museums, teaching himself to draw.

Lionni's business training gradually receded into the background as his interest in art and design grew. Having settled in Milan soon after his marriage in 1931, he started off by writing about European architecture for a local magazine. It was there that he met the contacts who were to give him a start as a professional graphic designer. When he moved to America in 1939, Lionni was hired by a Philadelphia advertising agency as art director. Later he became design director for the Olivetti Corporation of America, and then art director for Fortune magazine. At the same time, his reputation as an artist flourished as he began to exhibit his paintings and drawings in galleries from New York to Japan.

Lionni launched his career as an author/illustrator of books for children in 1959. Originally developed from a story he had improvised for his grandchildren during a dull train ride, Little Blue and Little Yellow was the first of what is now a long list of children's picture books, including four Caldecott Honor Books.

Reviews

[Antoinette]

Overall this book was pretty standard Lionni fare, but I was taken aback at the two-page spread illustration of an imagined battle between mice and birds, including some bloody and very dead animals. And I'm not easily shocked. Other than that, it's Lionni's usual message about making nice with all of God's creatures and with the earth.

[Kiah Ballard]

This book is a good example for children that there is good in everyone even if they've done some not so nice things in the past. I would use this book to help children talk about their feelings and their friendship with their friends. We would talk about how even though friends can sometimes hurt each others feelings, friends can still care about one another and treat one another nicely.

[Bahman Bahman]

mikhain bekhandin maile khoodetoone,vali man asheghe ketab ghesseye bacheham;)

[L.A.]

Not a big fan of the mice stabbing the birds in anger, but otherwise cute…

[Juushika]

The message in this has aged weirdly. It's well-intended and kind but ultimately amounts to "not all birds." It would be 100% more palatable (pun intended) if a bird didn't try to eat Nicolas, which is what tips this from a message against hate into a false equivalency between oppressor's hate and victim's anger. The art is great, though! I remember it vividly from my childhood, particularly the red berries; I love Lionni's art best in this style, combining dense textures with the crisp edges of pieced paperwork.

[Anna]

Nicolas, Where Have You Been? is a solid picture book from Leo Lionni, featuring the cute little mouse characters. Interesting message to debate--one of the characters sums it up as "don't judge the whole flock by one bird" but to me that didn't quite seem like what it was saying. Maybe more like "don't assume you know everything about a person/topic based on observing one aspect of them"?

Note that this might not be the best choice for a more sensitive kid due to an illustration where a mouse is imagining killing a bird with a sharp weapon. It's not super realistic but there is some blood.

[Amanda]

I thought this story was so fun, but be aware: when the mice are discussing their distaste for the the birds ("Down with the birds! War on the birds!") there is an illustration that depicts one of the mice stabbing a bird. Perhaps not suitable for some young children, depending on their maturity and parental preference. Great connections to life cycles, seasons, food chains, and relationships in nature.

[Cheryl]

Not all of Lionni's stories will be loved by every reader, but imo this one is most likely to be highly regarded by most readers. "One bad bird doesn't make a flock" is a lesson we all need to master.

(Especially my paranoid neighbors on NextDoor.)

[The Transmuted Tree]

Red 4th

[Bookish Minx]

Ein Klassiker mit wunderbaren Illustrationen und einer wichtigen Botschaft.

[Phoebe]

3.75 stars
Cute little book. My son loves this author/illustrator.

[Xinwen Xu]

This book is from my favorite author Leo Lionni. The book tells reader a very warm story. Some field mice want to eat the sweetest and juiciest berries, but the birds got these berries before them. Nicolas decided to look for a berry patch that the birds have not yet discovered. It meet a big, ugly bird, and the bird grabbed him with its sharp claws and carried him up into the sky. Nicolas landed in a nest and he know there little birds, they become good friends. their mother bird give the ripe red berries to Nicolas. One morning, Nicolas wake up but other birds have flown away. They left a lot of berries to Nicolas, but Nicolas was too sad to eat. Nicolas climb down the tree and find other field mice, it tells its experience to them. These mice change their opinions about birds. Finally, birds in their beaks they carried the rope red berries he know so well. These berries are for these mice,
The book is very suitable for children. They can study a lot of things from the story. The theme is about show, help, and friendship. These birds help field mice get the sweetest and juiciest berries. Harmony is very important. This is what the author want to express, to be a nice person and help others, your life will be better and better as well.

[Christina Taylor]

After being abducted by a large bird, Nicholas Mouse begins an adventure in which he experiences first hand Uncle Raymond’s words of wisdom: “one bad bird doesn't make a flock.” Lionni’s modern fable is an excellent tool for teaching Jane Schaeffer’s techniques for writing literary analysis. The story’s moral can serve as a stated thesis that students must support with textual evidence, explaining concrete details gleaned from Lionni’s colorful mixed media collages that have been bolstered by their own commentary. Furthermore, students may also find meaning in changes in the characters’ eyes, posture, and mouths as well as the red endpages that bear the same color as the sweet red berries which feature so prominently in the plot.

[Meg]

My favorite part of this book--as with all of Lionni's works--the illustrations. Nicolas is a young mouse who wants to eat berries and blames the birds when he can't find any red, ripe, delicious berries. His tune changes when a nice family of birds takes care of him, bringing him red berries everyday and caring for him as one of their family. It holds an important lesson about judging or loving others. This book is better for at least a three-year-old.

[Laura]

This is a cute little book with a good message. I liked the attitude of little Nicolas and wondered where the story would take him. I'm glad this book had a happy ending. I would recommend, especially to people who are fans of mice.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2009...

[Magda]

'One bad bird doesn't make a flock.'

[Lori]

"One bad bird doesn't make a flock."

[Rebecca]

Nicolas was consorting with the enemy whom all the other mice wanted to stab with sticks. Then they all became friends in the end. It was an ok book for me.

[Tina B]

mice, birds, jumping to conclusions

[Donna]

Good message of not judging everything in a category by a single encounter but the book contains some strong angry imagery.

[Maia]

A favorite author in our house.

[Kellee]

The mouse stabbing a bird with blood was enough for me. Are you serious Leo Lionni?

[Rani]

When Nicolas is picked up by a big bird, where does he land?