The Lion or the Mouse?: Who's Got Game?    by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison & Pascal Lemaitre Order:  USA  Can Scribner, 2003 (2003) Hardcover      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson I've been intrigued by the big name authors writing picture books lately - just reviewed one by Margaret Atwood and then discovered this by Toni Morrison and her son Slade (with effective cartoon style illustrations by Pascal Lemaitre). It's part of a Who's Got Game? series of retellings of Aesop's fables (which also includes Who's Got Game? : The Ant or the Grasshopper?) and of course this one is a new take on the old story of the The Lion and the Mouse. In the Morrison version, a lion struts around the savannah, ordering all to 'Listen Up!' as he tells them 'No ifs, maybes, ands or buts. / I am the baddest in all the land. / I do what I like. / I do what I can.' Of course, he gets what he deserves in the form of a painful thorn in one of those big, dangerous paws. Given the lion's track record, no-one is very interested in his pleas for help. There are plenty of Little Red Hen style 'Not me's' and excuses like 'a date to keep / a floor to sweep'. Finally a 'saddest in all the land' lion persuades the small, weak mouse to help him. In a hilarious reversal, the mouse turns into a wannabe bully, who whines at the lion that the other animals laugh at him, while an older and wiser lion wonders 'Is he who wants to be a bully just scared to be himself?' The format (cartoon and rhymes) is fun, but Who's Got Game? : The Lion or the Mouse? also has several important lessons for young and old - about bullies, wannabes and bystanders. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews