Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse

This story makes my heart happy. Poor Alexander, like everyone else at some point in time, looks at Willy the Wind-Up mouse and wishes to be him. I've definitely envied another person and wished my life could be like theirs -- And yet... Leo Lionni perfectly demonstrates how being yourself is always the best - and even being selfless and generous to another brings with it the best gift of joy. Heart = Happy :) Also, let's not forget the artwork. LOVE the textures and printwork. C'est bon!

Leo Lionni writes a wonderful story about friendship with underlying lessons on diversity. I love this author because these stories are both nice to read and have real and deep content to pursue in class projects. Using content from Leo Lionni books you can teach writing mini lessons and have rich discussions. This book helped me to fall deeper in love with Leo Lionni books.

Cute, but... let's maybe not teach kids to breach consent for personal gain, maybe?

In this book, Alexander hates living in fear and being disliked by the family in the house and is jealous of how the wind-up mouse toy is loved. He works hard to get a wish granted by a magical lizard, but ends up changing his mind at the last second and wishes for the wind-up mouse to turn into a real mouse to save his life.

This is a beautiful book! The illustrations use perspective and scale perfectly to make the reader see and feel the mouse's perspective. The reader sees the towering humans and their giant brooms and things and feels how little and scared the mouse must be. The story teaches a great lesson about sacrificing for a friend and about how you can be jealous of someone else without really understanding that their life show more might not be perfect either. show less

Everyone loves Willy the wind-up mouse, while Alexander, the real mouse, is chased away with brooms and imperiled by mousetraps. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be loved and cuddled, thinks Alexander, and he wishes he could be a wind-up mouse, too. In this gentle fable about a real mouse and a mechanical one, Leo Lionni explores the magic of friendship.

Another Leo Lionni beautifully written and illustrated children's book. Alexander, a real mouse, is jealous of the way people love Willy the wind-up mouse but chase Alexander the real mouse away. He wishes he was a wind-up mouse instead of a real mouse, but he changes his mind when he sees the wind-up mouse discarded with other old toys. The book explores the magic of friendship between the real mouse and mechanical mouse. Author and illustrator Leo Lionni is noted for his use of collage in his illustrations and for his use of fables to tell stories of community and creativity.

Everyone loves Willy the wind-up mouse, while Alexander, the real mouse, is chased away with brooms and imperiled by mousetraps. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be loved and cuddled, thinks Alexander, and he wishes he could be a wind-up mouse, too. In this gentle fable about a real mouse and a mechanical one, Leo Lionni explores the magic of friendship.