Article • Jun 26, 2015
Seven Blind Mice
Like the seven blind mice, kids need to learn the important lesson that we don’t always see things in the same ways as others, but that another person’s perspective is just as important as our own.
We love the book “Seven Blind Mice” by Ed Young. It’s based on the famous story known by many different names, but typically called “The Blind Men and the Elephant.” The basic premise is that seven blind mice discover a “strange something” by their pond. One by one, the mice go to find out what it is. The first mouse reports that it’s a pillar, the second that it’s a snake, the third that it’s spear, and so on. Each mouse is, of course, only seeing a small portion of what is actually an elephant. Here’s a video of the book, or kids will love it as a read-aloud.
The moral of the story is clear. In fact, it even tells us the moral at the end of the story! “Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole.”
This is a great book to follow up with some questions about perspective.
What did the blind mice think they saw? What did they actually see?
Were the mice wrong when they described what they saw? (The answer you’re looking for here is, they weren’t wrong, they just didn’t have the whole picture.)
Have you and a friend/parent/sibling ever seen the same thing in different ways? Can you tell me about it?
How do you feel when someone doesn’t agree with what you see? What can you do about it?
We want kids to think that we don’t always see things in the same way as other people, and that another person’s perspective is just as important as our own.
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