Picture Book of the Day: a new version of Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse, by Jenny Broom and illustrated by Nahta Nój.  This bright, bold, and glorious book employs innovative paper craft to retell this Aesop fable about a mouse who repays a lion's kindness with a kindness of its own.  Cool die-cuts play with perspective as a mouse finds itself craving the berries right above a sleeping lion's head. The creeping mouse of course wakes the lion up but the beast responds with empathy instead of anger, but then laughs at the little critter when it says that someday it will help the lion.  After an effective die-cut involving hunters' footsteps, Nój leaves his most breathtaking flap for towards the end when we see the lion trapped in a net, with the mouse coming to his rescue.  Pair this charmer with Jerry Pinkney's lovely near-wordless Caldecott winner for maximum impact.