"No one shall tell me that I was once a mouse!" roars the tiger. But an old hermit, mighty at magic, does tell him; for it was he who first changed the tiger from a wretched little mouse to a stout cat, to a big dog, and finally, to his proud and royal self. Youngest readers will take special delight in seeing these changes take place in Marcia Brown's dramatic picturing of the tiger's fall from grace. Older boys and girls will read more meaning into the text.

A rajah of ancient India is said to have had such popular animal fables collected as a "mirror for princes" to instruct his errant sons. Marcia Brown retells this fable from the Hitopadesa in vigorous style and illustrates it in woodcuts of exceptional quality. With a fluidity rare in the medium, they achieve the difficult feat of retaining their strong appeal for children while captivating art lovers of all ages.

瑪西婭·布朗 1918年生於美國紐約州的一個牧師傢庭，從小就非常喜歡閱讀、繪畫和手工，並夢想成為一名藝術傢。瑪西亞就讀於美國紐約州立教師學院（紐約州阿爾巴尼大學前身），主修文學和戲劇，畢業後曾從事中學教師工作，後擔任紐約公共圖書館兒童館館員。在圖書館工作期間，她給孩子們講故事，同時也接觸到瞭世界各國的珍貴兒童圖書和插畫，為日後的繪本創作打下瞭良好的基礎。瑪西亞意識到民間故事對於孩子具有獨特的吸引力，她創作的繪本靈感也往往來源於此，為呼應每一本書不同的主題與時代背景，她會嘗試不同的媒材與風格，水粉、蠟筆、水彩、木版畫……瑪西婭憑藉高超的錶現技巧將各種媒材運用得齣神入化，每一部作品都被賦予瞭獨特的藝術生命，也為她贏得瞭極高的聲譽。代錶作品有《從前有一隻老鼠……》《灰姑娘》《影子》（以上作品榮獲凱迪剋金奬），《石頭湯》《漁夫亨利》《狄剋•惠靈頓和貓》《約翰船長的廚師》《穿靴子的貓》《小锡兵》（以上作品榮獲凱迪剋銀奬），以及改編自挪威民間故事的《三隻山羊嘎啦嘎啦》。