the lion and the mouse

I bumped into this delightful little review by Christy Tennant, a performing artist and worship leader, on Culture Making, a blog "celebrating and informing those who cultivate and create" from a Christian perspective ...

(In January) the author and artist Jerry Pinkney was awarded the highest honor for an illustrator of children's books: the Caldecott Medal.  His wordless retelling of the classic Aesop fable, The Lion and the Mouse, contains stunningly beautiful renderings of this heartwarming story, set in the African Serengeti, that reminds young and old alike that no act of kindness is ever wasted.  In this video he invites us into his studio to get a bit of background on this remarkable work of art:

I appreciated Pinkney's comments in the video,

"This book, it's about two creatures that are very large in heart. ...  With life being as complicated as it is now, ... it comes down to something very simple.  And that simplicity drives the story.  It's about family, and it's about helping others."

I checked the book out of our local library, and very much second Christy's recommendation.  It's a heartfelt and beautiful rendition of a touching story, which has a wonderfully affirming message that no creature is too small to warrant our compassion and dignity.  I can't wait to read it again to my own son, when he is old enough to take in the images and moral.  By the way, you can read Aesop's original fable at Google Books.

(Many thanks to Christy Tennant for sharing her review, originally posted at Culture Making which is an outgrowth of Andy Crouch's wise and inspiring book by the same title (highly recommended).  Images copyright The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers '09).)