Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse (Paperback)

by Leo Lionni (Author) "One day, when there was no one in the house, Alexander heard a squeak in Annie's room..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A delicate fantasy about friendship, illustrated with bold, sumptuous collages."
-The New York Times
"Eye-catching, boldly colored collages illustrate this classic 'grass is always greener' story in which a live mouse is envious of his mechanical counterpart." -Booklist


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
Illus. in full color. "Eye-catching, boldly colored collages illustrate this classic 'grass is always greener' story in which a live mouse is envious of his mechanical counterpart."--Booklist.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dragonfly Books (September 12, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394829115
• ISBN-13: 978-0394829111
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #210,955 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #24 in

  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( L ) > Lionni, Leo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Lionni's most moving stories, July 20, 2001

By	"bluemamma" (San Luis Obispo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I love Leo Lionni's books. His gentle fables and parables deal with some of the most important lessons children need to learn - about friendship, generosity, and being true to yourself. They're deeply moral books, but they never preach or oversimplify.

This is one of Lionni's deepest and most moving books. In it, Alexander, a despised house mouse meets another mouse - a child's beloved wind-up toy. The contrast between Alexander's unhappy life and the life of the pampered toy mouse makes him feel so sorry for himself that he misses important clues that life is not so great for the wind-up mouse after all. When he learns about a way to earn a magic wish, he realizes he can use it to turn himself into a toy. But before he's able to accomplish his goal, he finds the wind-up in the garbage. He uses his wish to turn the wind-up into a real mouse.

Alexander learns that the most important thing is to be true to himself, not turn himself into what others want. But in doing so, he also reaches out to help someone else.

You may read this book dozens, even hundreds, of times before a child picks up the nuances of that message. But the key is that most children will ask to hear the story that many times, and most adults will love it so much they won't mind repeating it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for all classrooms, November 23, 2004

By	emilie "emilie" (NC) - See all my reviews

I believe that Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni is an outstanding work of children's literature. It is a Caldecott Honor Book, which I thoroughly enjoyed on several levels. When it comes to characterization, this story would definitely be appropriate for young children. Each character is easy to identify. Alexander is dark gray and a little "rough around the edges". Although when it comes to size, shape, and color he and Willy (the wind-up mouse) are similar, it is not difficult to tell them apart. Besides the obvious traits Willy possesses, such as having wheels for feet and a crank sticking out of his back, he is also a little smaller than Alexander. Willy's body is smoother as well whereas Alexander's is fairly rugged.
The whole book is told from the perspective of two tiny mice. The reader gets to see how huge and scary everyday objects, like a spoon or a broom, can be from the point of view of a mouse. The stuffed animals are enormous. The red boots appear to be mansions for the mice to play in. I especially like the illustration of Willy and Alexander standing under the kitchen table. All we see of the table is one leg and the bottom of the table cloth. There is also one of Annie's dolls laying in the background that looks absolutely gigantic in comparison to the two friends.
Lionni does a dazzling job placing "life sized" objects in the background of each scene throughout the story to make sure the reader realistically understands how minuscule the two mice are in contrast to the environment in which they live. He also uses lots of fun wild wall paper in creative ways as his artisitic media to create his illustrations.
On the page when Alexander meets Willy there are oodles of brilliant colors and exhilarating patterns. I felt like these captured the feeling of excitement Alexander was feeling to have found not only a new friend, but another mouse like himself. Most often the color red is used to represent love and passion. On the page that talks about how much Alexander and Willy grew to love one another, they are pictured playing in a pair of gigantic red boots. I believe this color was chosen purposefully to portray that passionate loving emotion. When Alexander was in his hide out all alone thinking about how envious he was of Willy, he was very sad and lonely. Most of that page is black accompanied by other dark colors such as different shades of brown. There are also some cool colors like blues and greens. These colors emote sadness and loneliness.
Lionni's text holds the reader's attention. The story is intresting without being too complex or boring. All of the observations I have written about clarify why Lionni is worthy of an award as prestigious as the Caldecott Honor. He is observably an excellent author and illustrator of children's books and undoubtedly meets all the requirements associated with producing high quility children's literature.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lesson in unselfishness and dreams coming true, March 29, 1998

By	Dennis J. Buckley (Harrisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Alexander the mouse finds a friend to end his loneliness-- Willy the wind up mouse. When Willy is about to be thrown away, Alexander makes a selfless decision, and with the help of a magic lizard saves his friend.

This is a wonderful little story filled with magic and friendship. It can be read in such a way (with plenty of drama and mystery surrounding the lizard) so as to captivate a young reader. Its happy ending makes it a good bedtime book.