The Tale of Squirrel and Mouse
There’s a family that lives in a little house in a little town. And in the branches of the oak tree in their yard lives Sunny the Squirrel. The children love him, feed him and stroke his fur. But Barry the mouse lives deep down in the cellar with his parents, and although he longs to go out and play with the kids, he isn’t allowed to. “People don’t like mice,” his mother tells him. The next day, Barry slips out and meets Sunny anyway, and the two try to understand why people like squirrels but are afraid of mice. After a long discussion they decide that it’s because of the tail. So Sunny suggests an experiment – to swap tails. And yes, when the kids see Barry the mouse with a squirrel’s tail, they stroke him happily, but when Sunny the squirrel turns up with a mouse’s tail, they scream with fear. The two friends are sad that people judge them just by their tail, and decide to prove to the kids how silly that is. But the next day, they see that the kids have realized it on their own – they bring two bowls of food into the yard, one for the squirrel and one for the mouse.
An entertaining fable on prejudice and the similarity between humans and animals.
- Languages
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Korean, Spanish
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Korean
Goyang, Booklight, forthcoming -
Spanish
Buenos Aires, Leviathan, forthcoming
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| Title | The Tale of Squirrel and Mouse |
|---|---|
| Writer's Last Name | Ben-David |
| Writer's First Name | Mishka |
| Genre | Children |
| Illustrations | Michel Kichka |
| Publisher (Hebrew) | Keter |
| No. Pages | 28pp. |
| Book title - Hebrew (phonetic) | Ha-Achbar Ve-Ha-Sna'i: Ani - Ata, Ata - Ani |
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“REVIEWS Mishka Ben-David’s first children's book is based on an entertaining game of identities and draws from the tradition of fables to tell of the dangers of prejudice … Michel Kichka’s illustrations are wonderful, and sometimes they even steal the show from the text, especially at times when they add some visual “Easter eggs” that do not exist in the text, thus enriching it. The result will inspire … the little readers.”
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“ This sweet book tells about equality and differences. Michel Kichka’s illustrations are charming and their interaction with Mishka Ben-David’s writing is extremely successful. Highly recommended to children and their parents (and grandparents) who will read the book out for them.”