Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse

One day, Sylvester Duncan, an endearing young burro whose hobby is collecting unusual pebbles, happens upon a truly extraordinary one. Not only is it particularly beautiful, but as Sylvester is soon to discover, it possesses powerful magical properties. Sylvester's intentions are good and he plans to make use of the power of the pebble to help others. Nevertheless, the use of magic quickly becomes tragic, and Sylvester finds himself in a desperate situation from which escape seems all but impossible. Reading this book to my daughters, I found myself on an emotional roller coaster ride, as the little donkey is extricated from his plight just as all hope is lost. This is an excellent book, beautifully illustrated, and clearly deserving of the Caldecott Medal which it won in 1970.

Someone wrote that this book is too depressing. I beg to differ. I'm not a professional child psychologist, but looking back on my own experience, and how much I loved this book as a child, I think children have very powerful feelings all the time, including longing and sadness. It's comforting to see those feelings described and reflected outside yourself. If adults act like the whole world is happy-happy all the time, it can feel very lonely and isolating when you have other feelings. I would venture to guess that empathizing with characters in stories helps children develop a sense of connection between their own feelings and other people's feelings. This connection makes us feel less lonely and also allows us to be genuinely caring toward others. I can still see, in my mind's eye, the picture of Sylvester the Rock under a blanket of snow, and feel the almost unbearable empathy that I felt for him when I read this book as a child. But it was a good feeling to feel such profound emotions. It was not unpleasant--it was very real, alive, and human--it made me feel connected with the world. And it was a safe place to feel these emotions, because I knew how the story ended, I knew everything would be okay. I loved this book very much. I wonder if I still have it...

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.

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.