Lion and Mouse

A busybody mouse invites himself into a lion’s den and wipes his feet on the lion’s mane. The lion grabs the rude mouse and prepares to eat him, but the mouse pleads to be let go so he can go visit his girlfriend, promising to someday return the favor. The lion scoffs at the insignificant mouse, but lets him go anyway. The next day, the lion is lured into a hunter’s trap by a ham hanging from a tree. The mouse appears and rescues the lion by biting through the trap’s netting. The lion never expected a mouse capable of rescuing him. From that day forward, the mouse and lion become the best of friends.

Buitrago’s Lion and Mouse is a modern retelling of Aesop’s fable about a lion whose mercy towards a mouse is not wasted and who finds that friends come in all sizes. Buitrago adds flair and humor to his story. The mouse and lion end up moving in together and live “together nicely the rest of their days in the woods”. Yockteng’s illustrations of the woods and its inhabitants add rich detail to the story.