Oh, yeah? Measure this, pal!
There's a message and kind of a moral here that both break down due to presentation in an anthropomorphic universe. You start wondering why exactly the birds are eating something as intelligent as they are, and whether that wouldn't be cruel, and you get into questions that you really weren't planning to get into while reading your toddler a board book.
People will threaten to kill you if you don't entertain them.
A bit like the Rainbow Fish, but with its own issues.
The nice things that he does for other people reward him by changing his outward appearance to a form that others will accept. It's so bizarre. It's like he has to earn the ability to fit in. It's difficult to tell whether it's saying that fitting in is good or not. It's hard to understand this book.
Either help others less fortunate than you, or people won't accept you unless you fit in.
It's better to be hated than to be trapped forever in an immortal, immobile body.
It's got a very clear message of "the grass is always greener on the other side". Leo Lionni's illustrations made of collages and patterns are really nice to look at, but the story isn't really very interesting or better than books like The Velveteen Rabbit.
It always feels like other people have a better life than you, but that's not true.
