Alexander thinks he wants to be a wind-up mouse like Willie so he’s not so lonely. Willie sleeps in a warm bed and played with. Willie is very loved by the little girl in the house. He finds a wind up mouse he befriends named Willie. This is a story about being ok with who you are.Īlexander is a lonely mouse who is always chased away. We see a mouse inside a Russian Doll, but that picture is never in the story. Originally developed from a story he had improvised for his grandchildren during a dull train ride, Little Blue and Little Yellow was the first of what is now a long list of children's picture books, including four Caldecott Honor Books. Lionni launched his career as an author/illustrator of books for children in 1959. At the same time, his reputation as an artist flourished as he began to exhibit his paintings and drawings in galleries from New York to Japan. Later he became design director for the Olivetti Corporation of America, and then art director for Fortune magazine. When he moved to America in 1939, Lionni was hired by a Philadelphia advertising agency as art director. It was there that he met the contacts who were to give him a start as a professional graphic designer. Having settled in Milan soon after his marriage in 1931, he started off by writing about European architecture for a local magazine. Lionni's business training gradually receded into the background as his interest in art and design grew. He was born in Holland in 1910 of Dutch parents, and although his education did not include formal art courses (in fact, he has a doctorate in economics from the University of Genoa), he spent much of his free time as a child in Amsterdam's museums, teaching himself to draw.

Leo Lionni has gained international renown for his paintings, graphic designs, illustrations, and sculpture, as well as for his books for children. Leo Lionni died in October of 1999 at his home in Tuscany, Italy, at the age of 89.

He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner-for Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse.

Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 highly acclaimed children's books.

Swimmy by leo lionni read aloud