tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post5254454120209574907..comments2024-03-28T01:10:01.662-07:00Comments on Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews: The 2009 Newbery and Caldecott award winnersMarya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-61611361520070884302010-02-23T20:25:52.077-08:002010-02-23T20:25:52.077-08:00Aaron, I quite agree with you regarding the mercy ...Aaron, I quite agree with you regarding the mercy aspect of the story. It makes the story a gentler more loving one, and the soft colors of Africa beautifully reflect this.Marya Jansen-Gruberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-27403757844275366762010-02-22T16:26:20.721-08:002010-02-22T16:26:20.721-08:00I also loved the Lion and the Mouse. Such a wonder...I also loved the Lion and the Mouse. Such a wonderful book.<br /><br />I think the most striking thing about it for me is the space Pinkney opens up for a subtle reinterpretation of the traditional moral of Aesop’s fable. The traditional moral: “Little friends may prove great friends.” Traditionally, then, the story is meant to embolden the meek (“You may be a great friend one day!”) and to encourage the proud to look out for the little guy.<br /><br />However, in Pinkney’s version, the moral is not so tightly constrained, largely because the only words Pinkney uses, as you note, are onomatopoeias. This textually minimal approach lets the story breath in new ways, broadening the possibilities for the story’s moral. While the range of possibilities still includes the traditional moral, in my view the most obvious teaching of Pinkney’s version seems to be that mercy is a virtue. In other words, the moral of Pinkney’s version is that mercy is a good character trait that human beings ought to embody.<br /><br />The central aspect of Pinkney’s version that shifts the book toward this interpretation is that since there is no dialogue, we do not get the lion laughing derisively when the mouse suggests that the lion may need her help one day (as in the traditional telling). Rather, all we see is the lion letting the mouse go free, which looks more like an act of mercy than an act inspired by the lion’s arrogant amusement. Moreover, as a result, the mouse’s liberating action looks less like mere payback and more like mercy as well.Aaron Meadhttp://www.childrensbooksandreviews.comnoreply@blogger.com