This book is about friendship. Who will save who? Just because you see a big lion and a small mouse doesn't mean they can't become friends. The mouse tries the help the Lion that is in trouble. The mouse escapes from the lion'd claws, because the mouse said one day that the lion will need him. You should always have somebody's back because you never know when something might happen. This book is great for the classroom because it is giving a message that no matter how big or small you are you always need somebody. ( )

An adventurous mouse proves that even small creatures are capable of great deeds.

This colorful reader from the Early Step into Reading series retells one of Aesop's fables. A powerful lion catches a mouse, who begs the beast to free him. In return, he says, he will someday help the lion. Amused, the lion frees the mouse. Part 2 begins with these simple words: 'Big Lion. Big net. Big, big trouble.' The trapped lion roars, bringing the mouse, who chews through the net and sets him free.

This book is a great example of a fable because the lion and the mouse can talk. Yes, they encounter things that lions and mice experience such as being captured or being eaten by an animal higher up in the food chain but they also talk to each other and help each other out. Animals with their differences in size and stature would not normally act or do the things they do. This is also a wonderful example of a fable because it has a moral at the end, there is definitely something that students can learn from reading this book. It is a re-telling of Aesop's classic fable.
Characters: The characters in this book are of utmost importance. Without either of them the moral of the story would not be able to be told. Each of them is a foil of the other when it comes to size and power and this is what makes the life lesson or moral so valuable.
Art Media: colored pencil, watercolor