The artwork is done in stunning colors, silhouette style on black. Each of the mice (each a different color) takes a day during the week to examine the THING by their pond. As they describe it, we see a picture of what they thought they felt (a fan, a column, a snake), in their color.

The seventh finally understands that the THING is an elephant, by running all over the entire body instead of just a little bit.

I love the artwork. Gorgeous isn't too strong a word.

Aseops Fables arent the only books with lessons. I got this book for my two nephews and they loved it. It taught them to see all sides of a person/situation. IT IS GREAT!

Ed Young brings simple truths to preschoolders and young children as he retells a favorite story about the Blind Man and the Elephant using 7 blind mice to show that each point of view, just like all the colors of the rainbow, come together to make the "whole" of the elephant and also equals white light, which is what all colors of the rainbow equal. Many teaching moments such as primary colors equal white when combined and looking at things from many points of view brings about a different understanding, can be shared with children as they are able to understand. Enjoy the simple story or the depths of the wonderful ideals illustrated simply and beautifully.

This is a beautiful book. I bought it for my children, who enjoyed it immensely. I also used it in a classroom of first graders. They were delighted with the book, and we all had fun with the illustrations and the story. I think it is a wonderful book, with beautiful illustrations and a great story.

This book is great for both of my kids and also as an introduction to mothers in Bible Study. I love it.

The whole truth is rarely found in the report of one, but the ideas of many bring a more enlightened view. Seven blind mice each report their own experience with various parts of an elephant. While the observations of each are correct, their conclusions are incorrect without considering all the reports together. This is a great life lesson!

This is an excellent book especially for Kindergarten or lst graders. It is great to use for predicting and keep a young readers attention.

This is an excellent book especially for Kindergarten or lst graders. It is great to use for predicting and keep a young readers attention.

The book I chose was Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young, which won a Caldecott award for its illustrations. This is a book that could really be used to teach many different things children. From the color wheel in art to working together as a team to get to your goal, it has it all. The story tells about seven blind mice that discover something different in their pond where they live. They decide to go out one at a time on different days to try to figure out what the something is. On each day the mice that went sees something different from the previous mice that went. They all seem to think it is something different. In the end they work together to figure out what the something is which turns out to be elephant. The moral of the story is if you work together as a team you can accomplish any task but alone you can not.
This story ca be use to teach anyone form preschool through college. In fact I used it in a kindergarten classroom after my college professor used it in mine. She used as a tool for us t use our senses and work as a group to find the bigger picture. In my classroom I used it as tool to get kids to work together.
Amazon says it is for baby to preschool but most definitely from preschool to college. I would give this book, on a scale from (1-10) a ten. Great book, every teacher should try to use it in their classroom.

The Indian story of the blind men and the elephant has to be one of the most popular and familiar tales from the sub-continent, and the well-known story receives some nice twists in this book written and illustrated by Ed Young. This time around it is "Seven Blind Mice" who are one day surprised to find a strange something by their pond. They all cry "What is it?" and then run home. Each day, one by one, they investigate the mystery and each returns to report something different to the others, insisting it is a pillar, a snake, a cliff, and so on.

Young, who previous wrote and illustrated "Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China," works in collage for this volume. When we first see the mice they are a row of brightly colored tails against a field of black. Throughout the book the vibrant cut-paper collage on a stark black background makes for a very strong visual impact. The elephant, or I suppose I should say the real elephant, is made from textured and crumpled paper. Even though the mice are blind, each one imagines what they have discovered to be the same color as they are; for example, it is the Green Mouse that feels the trunk of the elephant and reports that he has found a snake, which is also colored green.

"Seven Blind Mice" is a Reading Railroad book aimed at younger students (K-Grade 3). The book works on several levels, because in addition to colors and days of the week, there is an emphasis on counting as well, all of which would be topics in a Kindergarten curriculum. Classes can also discuss what it is like to have a disability, differences and similarities between animals, favorite days of the week, and many other topics off of this book. Plus there is the story's moral: "Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole." Of course, even young readers will not miss out on how it is the only female in the group, the White Mouse, who is able to put the parts into a whole.

Ed Young is nothing so much as an artistic version of Eric Carle. Not that I have anything against Eric Carle (author of "The Hungry Caterpillar") but in "Seven Blind Mice", the artist has imbued his book with such amazing colors and textures that it's a wondrous delight to look through. The story is the classic folktale of the seven blind men and the elephant, rendered mousey. In this story, seven blind mice (not the usual tailless three) come across a large elephant. Each mouse feels a different part of the elephant and comes up with a different idea of what the large object blocking their path is. The moral of the story is summed up nicely at the end as, "Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole".

Each scene displays the colorful mice (each a different vibrant color) against a black background. These cut-outs are positioned perfectly in each scene to convey movement, mindset, and personality. Though they may be similar shapes, they are by no means identical. But I really can't convey the beauty Young has created here. The elaborate papers used for the elephant's skin or the evocative mind's eye scenes of what the elephant might be. Each time a colored mouse describes what the elephant is (whether pillar or spear or cliff) that object appears on the opposite page in brilliant beautiful papers the color of the mouse describing it.

Pretty doesn't describe it. Beautiful comes close. But spectacular is the most accurate statement that can be made about this book. Now go buy it.

WeLL, I reAD THis Book and I MUSt saY ThaT I aM MoSt hORrIblY diSApPoinTEd! FroM AlL thE PoSItivE RevIEwS I EXpected THat tHIs WaS GoinG tO Be a GREAT BooK ThaT I WouLD ReallY ENjoY! It WasN'T! IT alsO WASn't HorRIble EitHER! It was MEdioCRE.