It's a pleasing idea that he can store up the sun rays and the colours but my daughters weren't really falling for this. Frederick's approach is unusual to say the least but I'm not sure that it is totally convincing for young children.

'Frederick is an appealing story which seems to show that there is more than one way of solving a problem. Will he be able to supply the sun rays, the colours and the words to see them through until Spring? They certainly hope so if they are to make it through the long winter! They remember Frederick's claims from earlier and ask him about his supplies. It's cold and dark and none of them feel like chatting. Soon the cold hard winter arrives and before long the little family of mice are running short of supplies. His answer amazes them when he claims that he is collecting supplies of a different sort – sun rays for the cold dark days ahead, colours for the grey winter and words for the long days when they might run out of things to say. Not surprisingly, the other hard working mice are none too pleased so they challenge Frederick. Instead of working as hard as his brothers and sisters, he spends his days staring at the meadow seemingly half asleep. Frederick is the only mouse who seems to see things slightly differently though. However, by working hard night and day the little family look like they could collect enough to see them through the long hard winter. Unfortunately, the farmers have moved away meaning that there are not such rich pickings to collect for the winter. The story of Frederick starts by introducing a chatty family of field mice who live in a stone wall alongside a meadow not far from a barn and a granary. Is he just being extremely lazy or is he actually contributing in a different but equally helpful way? However, one field mouse, Frederick, doesn't seem to be doing any work. It's arduous work but as long as they all put their weight they should be ready. Summary: There is a family of field mice who work very hard all through Summer and Autumn getting ready for the long hard winter.

Frederick lionni