A collection of classic tales, each with a moral message. This beautiful gift book contains some of Aesop's most famous fables, including "The Fox and The Crow", "The Greedy Dog", "The Sun and The Wind" and "The Hare and Tortoise". Perfect for sharing for reading aloud at bedtime. Traditionally bound with cloth and foil on the spine, head and tail bands and a ribbon marker — details which make this luxury edition an heirloom of the future.
I bought this as a gift for my little grand-daughter. Then we sat down to read some of those old, familiar stories together.
Is there anyone here who doesn't know that Aesop told stories and that each story had a little moral at the end? Our English language owes a lot to those stories. We say, "Sour grapes" when someone denigrates something they once desired and didn't obtain. We call someone a 'dog in a manger' when someone squats on something that isn't useful to them, but refuses to share. Slow and steady wins the race! The lion's share!
We owe a lot to that ancient story teller. Among the things we owe should be respect.
Do you know the tale of the grasshopper and the ants? The ants toiled all summer, putting food aside for the winter, while the grasshopper fiddled in the sunshine. Then winter came. And when the grasshopper, cold and hungry, came to the ants' door . . .
No. They did not feel sorry for him, invite him in, give him food, and hear him say that next summer, he would be wiser. That isn't the story. It's not the moral. Above all, it's NOT AESOP!
If that's the story you want to tell, fine. But do not label it "Aesop's."
Tell the story as Aesop told it. Leave it up to the adult reader to guide the child's reaction to it. Kids are very capable of hearing stories and analyzing them.
Look, we could change all the fables. The hare would carry the tortoise across the finish line so they could both be winners. The lion might divide the kill into equal shares. But that wouldn't be Aesop. And those stories would not last for centuries.
Hearing Aesop's Fables or reading them as those stories have been told for hundreds of years is part of cultural literacy.
I can't recommend this edition. Find a different edition that is faithful to the original.
Nice variety of Aesop's Fables paraphrased for small children. Each has a moral. Each story is simply done with illustrations to go with it. I loved looking at the drawings as there is a lot going on in them. I especially enjoyed the modern additions to them. Look closely at the illustrations because they are fun. Lots of little things to find in them.
Wonderfully illustrated, these retellings of classic tales are a joy. Each story is retold simply with only a few lines per page, so they have room to breath.
Wow, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised by this rating, really, when it appears to be adaptations of Aesop's fables, instead of the tales themselves. Having read the actual fables, a beautifully illustrated edition, I'd rather keep that for children's reading than what is being called a poor adaptation.
This collection of Aesop's stories is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. I love the moral at the end and that the language is easy for them to understand. The attention to detail in this book is splendid as well as each story has a different style of illustrations and a different font. I also love the ribbon marker to help you remember where you were so you don't just read the first stories repeatedly.