Aesop's Fables

September 1, 1988
These 10 fables are given a fresh treatment in rhyme, and a new look by Rayevsky. His foxes, bears, lions and other animals appear in medieval and Shakespearean capes, jerkins and plumed hats, all in deep reds, subtle browns and greens. The verses are not always successful, often indulging in inverted syntax to rhyme, and uneven metrics. But phrasing is often clever, and humor is everywhere. In true Aesopian fashion, the morals are soundly thumped at the end: mouse and lion awkwardly learn, ``Yes, sometimes the weak and sometimes the strong/ Must help each other to save right from wrong.'' The boy who cried wolf is more snappily told, ``Please learn your lesson/ Young man and beware:/ Never cry `Wolf!'/ When the wolf isn't there.'' Ages 4-7.

July 1, 1970
In her first book, German artist Durr uses pencil and charcoal to illustrate a particularly imaginative selection of 17 classic fables. Although many entries are familiar, Thuswaldner makes room for more unusual choices. In ``A Dress for the Moon,'' for example, the moon's mother complains of the moon's ever-changing size, which makes her ``the despair of the very best of dressmakers!'' The retellings are graceful and, true to Aesop, do not tack on any aphoristic morals. With its sophisticated design, however, the volume lacks child appeal. Sketchy and airy, the art is more conceptual than purely narrative; the duotone presentation may obscure the visual transitions between many of the spreads. Color remains the province of the type, printed in a distractingly bright, tomato red that seems almost to vibrate against the stark white paper. All ages.

October 13, 1999
Hague brings his signature nostalgic, intricately detailed style to 13 of Aesop's moral tales. Ages 4-8.

September 28, 1992
Salter refurbishes 58 of Aesop's fables with delicate flame-toned illustrations. Underscoring the timelessness and adaptability of the Greek storyteller's work, the British artist borrows motifs and styles from a number of the so-called cradles of civilization. In her full-page illustrations, slightly flattened perspectives recall antiquity, while the use of serial borders and of floral and geometric patterns seem specifically Middle Eastern. A fox and a stork pose with with a black-figure vase suggestive of pre-classical Athens; other pictures incorporate architectural flourishes (various types of capitals or arches) that evoke the style of an entire period. Small, color images interspersed with the text echo the facing illustrations; for spreads without full-page art, Salter produces stately framed miniatures or, alternately, abstract decorations. While the stories themselves receive perfectly satisfactory treatment, the concluding morals, unnecessarily modified, can take on a fortune-cookie flavor (``you will often be judged by the company you keep''). The moral here: judge this book by its cover full of sumptuous art. Ages 6-up.

January 1, 2012
This abridged edition retains some of the flavor of Aesop's fables while dumbing-down vocabulary and losing many of the details and vibrancy that have made the tales endure. Young readers would be better off with the already child-friendly originals. The black-and-white illustrations are also bland.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)