The Mouse and his Three Friends

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

The Mouse and his Three Friends

Text: Eiad Mdah / Illustrations: Charlotte Shama

When the deer is caught in a hunter’s net, his three friends – the crow, mouse and turtle – come to his help, each in his own way. A rendition of the classical Arabic tale of “Kalila and Dimna” about helping friends in need.

Family Activities

The deer fell into the hunter’s trap, but each of his friends used their abilities to save him. The deer would not have been saved without their cooperation and their plan to save him.

Video

Dear Parents,
The deer fell into the hunter’s trap, but each of his friends used their abilities to save him. The deer would not have been saved without their cooperation and their plan to save him.
Our child is still occupied with learning what his abilities are, discovering new skills and practicing them. At the same time he is also starting to make friends in preschool and often enjoys playing with them. It is a good time to talk to him about cooperation, sharing and friendship.
We share with you some of the activities regarding this book:

Family Activities

Together, you can discuss what the crow, the turtle, and the mouse each did to save the deer from the trap. Could the deer have been saved without their cooperation?
Recall an incident at home or in your neighborhood where people cooperated to help someone. What did each one do? In addition, what did our child do? It is time to talk about the role of every one, even if it is a small role.
The story starts with an illustration of the friends playing chess. Maybe it can encourage us to play chess with our child.
How about a theater show of the mouse and his three friends? We can make masks of each character and play the story. Who will play the hunter role?
Hunting deer is illegal in our country because deer is an endangered species. It is time to talk about hunting wild animals. Why do some people would want to hunt? Maybe we can learn about endangered species with our children and what animals it is illegal to hunt in different parts of the world.
What do you think the new adventure of the three friends will be the next day? We can encourage our child to use his/her imagination and make up a story about another adventure the three friends might have.