The King, the Mice and the Cheese

by Nancy Gurney and Eric Gurney

Book Overview

Illus. in full color. A king's struggle to keep mice from devouring his favorite food makes "an amusing circular tale. Lively pictures."--New York Times Book Review.?? This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394800397
• ISBN13: 9780394800394
• Release Date: August 1965
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Length: 63 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.8" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Brilliant illustration of the Law of Unintended Consequences

One of the best books I have ever read. The message is deep wisdom that our government leaders and makers of US foreign policy would do well to internalize. Your kids will like it too.

A snowballing problem...

This is a wonderful story and both my 5yo and my 3yo love it (and I like reading it too). The King wants to get rid of the mice and his wise men keep coming up with progressivly worse solutions until the King is right back where he started -- and creative thinking saves the day! Great illustrations.

FINALLY!!!!

Finally back in print. What an awesome book. Loved it as a kid and now one of my kids' favorites. So happy I can now purchase for my niece.

Third copy

My daughter got her first copy from her great-grandmother (it had been my father's when he was a child). She loves it so much that she has worn out two copies now. Colorful pictures, easy to follow words, and wonderful morals (sharing, thinking problems through, and that the easy way isn't always the best way).

An excellent fable for young children

This book is similar to a P.D. Eastman book, such as _Go Dog Go_ or _Are You my Mother?_, but this one has an interesting Middle Eastern flavor to it. It is a great fable about cooperation between people in conflict, that unwise solutions to conflict often cause even worse problems. There's no lecturing or preaching here (a rare thing for a children's book), just simple cause and effect. If you bring in cats to rid yourself of mice, the cats are worse than the mice. The story line is that first it's mice, then cats, etc., then elephants, then mice again, then a cooperative agreement with the mice and everyone gets what they really wanted in the first place. I wish there were more children's books like this which truly grasp things about human relations.