Reviews for Aesop's fables

The average rating for Aesop's fables based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-09-03 00:00:00 Gus Ledoux This beautiful collection, retold by Anne Gatti, with artwork by Safaya Salter, presents fifty-eight of Aesop's classic fables, many accompanied by full or half-page illustrations. They range from well-known favorites such as The Tortoise and the Hare, to lesser-known selections such as The Dishonest Doctor. Gatti's retelling is competent and flows well, but I would not describe her prose as being especially accomplished. I read this Aesop's Fables - the eighth such collection I have picked up for my current "Aesop Project" - in one sitting, on my morning commute, and the fables themselves "slipped by," making very little impression. Not so with Safaya Salter's gorgeous artwork, which stands out like a colorful exclamation point in my memory. According the the dust-jacket blurb, Ms. Salter is half Egyptian, and one can detect the influence of the illuminated manuscripts of the medieval Arab world on her work. Her palate is vivid and jewel-like, her full-page plates often have intricate decorative borders, and the reader can occasionally spy an architectural detail that looks Middle-Eastern. Other influences can also be detected, and I was particularly pleased to see Greek black-figure vases incorporated into a number of the illustrations. Well worth the time of any Aesop devotee!

Review # 2 was written on 2010-01-23 00:00:00 John Johnson Aesop's Fables, retold in verse by Tom Paxton, is a 1988 publication of ten famous fables that are told to instruct readers and listeners about appropriate behavior and attitudes. The fables in Paxton's retelling feature mostly animal characters (foxes, lions, mice, a tortoise, a hare, a dog, a horse, a bear, ants, and a grasshopper), but there are three fables featuring human main characters (all men). The fact that these fables are told in verse makes this an excellent book to read aloud. A reader could have fun with lines like, "There once was a lucky man / Who lived in days of old. / The gods had blessed him with a goose / Whose eggs were purest gold." Readers (and listeners) in kindergarten through fifth grade will delight in these short stories in which characters get into surprising situations that will have readers laughing and thinking. This particular retelling of Aesop's fables features old-timey illustrations that give this book a nostalgic feel. The characters (even some animals) are dressed in clothes that are reminiscent of Shakespearean costumes. The animals are not portrayed as cute or cuddly like they are in many modern picture books. The animal faces have personality, but some could be described as ugly or scary. Robert Rayevsky uses pen and watercolor (I believe) to create a style of illustration with a classic, vintage feel. For an introduction to Aesop's Fables for a young reader or for a teacher doing a unit on fables and folk tales, you could do much worse than picking up "Aesop's Fables" as retold by Tom Paxton.