A free printable fable reading passage, written at a grade 1 reading level (Peabody level 4; 56 words) with 5 comprehension questions and an answer key. No sign-up.
A lion naps, and a tiny mouse hops over him and wakes him up. The mouse begs to be let go and promises to help someday. The lion laughs but lets him go. Later the lion is caught in a net, and the mouse nibbles it apart.
Quick facts
One of Aesop's best-known fables, told in Greece about 2,600 years ago.
The lesson is that even someone small can help someone big.
The mouse is the hero because he can chew through the ropes of the net.
This short version is written for the very first readers.
What is the moral of Lion and Mouse?
Small can help big. The lion laughs at the idea that a mouse could ever help him, but the mouse is the one who frees him from the net.
Who wrote Lion and Mouse?
It is a fable credited to Aesop, a storyteller from ancient Greece. Many writers have retold it since.
How does the mouse save the lion?
The lion gets stuck in a net. The mouse runs up and nibbles the net with his teeth until it falls apart.
Is Lion and Mouse a true story?
No. It is a fable, a short made-up story with animals that teaches a lesson.
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“Lion and Mouse” is a reading level 4 story. Every Peabody story at this level is written and checked to keep sentences to 8 words or fewer, to aim at an average of 5 words a sentence, and to show 1 to 8 words on a screen. At most 6% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Readers reach this level by climbing, not by grade.
This passage
56 words, 16 screens, 5 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 5 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings
Longest sentence at this level
8 words
Words on a screen
1 to 8
Skills practised at this level
phonics (sounding words out), first sounds, sight words
