Once a Mouse...

My daughter who is 6 has loved this story since she was 4. Nicely written with very unique illustrations, the story teaches a nice moral in a folktale manner. Short story that gets to the point.

An Indian hermit saves a mouse. With a little bit of magic, he turns the mouse into increasingly ferocious animals, until the mouse {now a tiger) threatens the hermit. With this, the hermit decides it is time the "tiger" once more becomes a timid mouse.

The art is earthy, the story is engaging for those young of heart and mind, and those with a heart and mind, and the book is beautifully constructed.

What more can one say? Author Marcia Brown, I understand, won a Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in Once A Mouse in 1962. That certainly says something about the quality of this children's book.

This story is an ancient fable from India; the difference here is that the images are rendered in woodcuts. An old hermit witnesses a tiny mouse about to be devoured by a crow so he runs to it and chases the crow away. Taking pity on the defenseless mouse, he uses his magic powers to turn it into a cat. However, when a larger cat arrives, he turns his cat into a bigger one. After this a dog comes after the cat so he turns it into an even bigger dog. Finally, when a tiger comes after the dog, he turns it into an even bigger tiger.
At this time the tiger begins to believe he is lord of the forest and the hermit chastises him, pointing out that if it weren't for him, he wouldn't even be alive. This infuriates the tiger, so it plots to kill the old man. At this point, the hermit reads the tiger's mind and turns him back into a frightened mouse that runs away.
There is an excellent moral lesson in this tale for children and the woodcuts are strongly and effectively executed, giving the images a quality unlike the usual illustrations in children's books. It is easy to see why this book was a winner of the Caldecott medal.

"Once A Mouse" is a fable from India adapted by Marcia Brown who won the Caldecott medal in 1962 for the marvelous woodcuts in this book. As the title page states, it is "a fable cut in wood."

The artistry of woodcuts has always intrigued me and Marcia Brown is totally successful in translating animal emotions, whether scared or scary, bemused or 'lording it' over all. See the dog's wonderful snarling nose and the hermit whose unsurprised, philosophical face contrasts with the haughty tiger who "peacocked about the forest."

The reader is left, like the hermit, to meditate "on big and little" . . . and about how humans, like tigers, can get too big for their britches. Teachers can guide lively discussions even among the youngest - - who will learn to say "chided" - - a gentle word that should be on the world's list of 'protected species'. Reviewer mcHaiku cheers for the works Marcia Brown has shared which are so satisfactory at all levels.

Described in its day as attaining, "a fluidity rare in the medium", this illustrated book of woodcuts tells a simple fable that has remained beloved for decades. Claiming to be a tale told from ancient India, the story follows a man, a mouse, and the downfall of pride. A wise hermit lives alone in the forest when he happens to spy a mouse about to be eaten. Fearful for the little creature, the man changes his new friend into a cat. When a dog threatens his cat, he turns the mouse into a dog, and then (after a similar situation) into a tiger. Now a fine feline of a beast, the former mouse lords his newfound state over the other animals of the forest. After planning the death of his benefactor, the man changes the tiger into a mouse again and everything goes back to as it was (with the mouse, I suspect, a little wiser).

The woodcuts are fine indeed. Delicate little illustrations imbued with life and verve. From snarling dogs to transformed mice the images stand for themselves. I hadn't been aware of the author/illustrator's work before reading her winning, "Stone Soup". After comparing the two, I have to say they're definitely of equal interest. It's nice to see a book giving a clear sighted look at a fable from another country (in this case, India) without any stereotypes or racism. All in all, it's a nice little book with a strong moral core.