Review by Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. Every library has an edition of these stories, which have been retold for children many times. But this large, spacious hardcover is perfectly designed for reading aloud. The text appears in big, clear type on thick paper, and Clark's gorgeous watercolors show the characters--from the scary, threatening black bear to small creatures that sometimes come out on top. Morpurgo's adaptations of 21 short tales stay true to the tradition of humanlike animal characters and lessons that eschew heavy philosophizing in favor of warnings about ordinary folk and their foolishness. From The Tortoise and the Hare to The Dog in the Manger, the chatty style is never cute (I'll beat you easy-peasy ), and the morals (Be happy with what you've got, and look after it ) apply as much to the schoolyard as the jungle. Morpurgo's own introductory fable is filled with playful animal action and has a surprising reversal. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-"One day in March, after a morning of carefree cavorting and capering with her friends on the hillside, Hare was haring her way home along a path when she came across Tortoise." Morpurgo is jocular and colloquial as he adds descriptive details and conversation in retelling 21 tales of the venerable Aesop. Accompanied by humorous watercolor scenes in varied sizes, some tales extend for several pages, while others are complete on two. The concluding lessons, set in larger type, tend to lack the pithiness of those in many older collections, though some are more economical than others. "Obstinacy may look like strength. It rarely is." The reteller seems undecided as to how deadly the fate of some characters should be-or at least how specifically it should be stated. In "The Rat and the Elephant," not usually found in Aesop, he says of the cat's pursuit of the rat, "Well, I won't tell you what happened. You'll just have to imagine it." However, he adds a bit of ill fate for the boy who cried "wolf." Unlike most versions, the boy, along with his sheep, is eaten. Morpurgo includes no notes on his sources or choices of tales and alterations. These cheerful, well-crafted offerings will work well for independent reading and reading aloud.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Morpurgo's retellings of twenty-one fables are longer than those found in many collections. The retellings are as unremarkable as Clark's watercolor paintings, in which the animals are more cute than realistic, but the book and Morpurgo's interpretations of the stories and morals will appeal to the intended audience. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Morpurgo offers 21 old fables, plus a trenchant new one of his own by way of introduction, all written in an informal tone--" 'There you are, said Mouse.' 'I told you I'd pay you back, didn't I?' 'A tiddly thing like you helping out a king of the beasts like me,' Lion replied. 'Who'd have thought it possible?' "--and capped by traditional morals in capital letters. That tone, along with Chichester Clark's lightly humorous cartoons of wide-eyed, smiling or only faintly distressed-looking animals and people in, usually, rural settings, put this collection somewhere between Brad Sneed's broadly colloquial Aesop's Fables (2003) and Doris Orgel's weighty renditions of The Lion and the Mouse, and Other Aesop Fables (2000), majestically illustrated by Bert Kitchen. Try it one on one, or with small groups of listeners. (Folk tales. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
