The Greentail Mouse

Originally published in 1973, this is the offbeat fable of a city mouse who visits his peaceful country cousins and tells them about Mardi Gras in the city. The country mice are inspired to have their own Mardi Gras. And at first, it is fun wearing their masks with sharp teeth and tusks and scaring each other, but after a while, they begin believing that they really are ferocious animals.

Leo Lionni's winsome mice cavort across big double-page spreads of oil paintings and tell a story about what is real and what is not that is just right for preschoolers. Reissued in hardcover in 2003, it now makes its debut in Dragonfly paperback.“A charming fable, it deserves to take its place once again with other beloved Lionni favorites.” —Children’s Literature

“The art is gorgeous.” —The Horn Book MagazineLEO LIONNI wrote and illustrated more than 40 picture books, including four Caldecott Honor books—Inch by Inch, Swimmy, Frederick, and Alexander the Wind-Up Mouse. He died in 1999 at the age of 89.