The Greentail Mouse

by Leo Lionni (Author)

The Greentail Mouse
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Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
cms Common Sense Media Review

Originally published in 1973, this is the offbeat fable of a city mouse who visits his peaceful country cousins and tells them about Mardi Gras in the city. The country mice are inspired to have their own Mardi Gras. And at first it is fun wearing their masks with sharp teeth and tusks and scaring each other, but after a while they begin believing that they really are ferocious animals. 

cms Common Sense Media Review
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Publishers Weekly

A city mouse explains Mardi Gras to a group of country mice and they decide to stage their own celebration, complete with wild animal masks, in The Greentail Mouse by Leo Lionni. In a wordless spread, the artist indicates the mice's personalities transformed into the ferocious beasts with dark shades of gray and brown-a fitting juxtaposition to the holiday's otherwise festive tones.

Copyright 2002 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Kirkus

The Greentail Mouse has a simple, satisfying plot, some nicely modulated mood changes, and pictures that 'reflect and serve the story more organically than some of Lionni's more spectacular collages.

Copyright 1973 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission

Review quotes

"A charming fable, it deserves to take its place once again with other beloved Lionni favorites." —Children's Literature

"The art is gorgeous." —The Horn Book Magazine
Leo Lionni
Leo Lionni, an internationally known designer, illustrator, and graphic artist, was born in Holland and lived in Italy until he came to the United States in 1939. He was the recipient of the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was honored posthumously in 2007 with the Society of Illustrators' Lifetime Achievement Award. His picture books are distinguished by their enduring moral themes, graphic simplicity and brilliant use of collage, and include four Caldecott Honor Books: Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. Hailed as "a master of the simple fable" by the Chicago Tribune, he died in 1999 at the age of 89.
Classification
-
ISBN-13
9780307981516
Lexile Measure
810
Guided Reading Level
M
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date
January 08, 2013
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002180 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, etc.
JUV039000 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | General
JUV017080 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Other, Non-Religious
Library of Congress categories
Mice

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