Aesop's Fables (Junior Classics) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Aesop (Author), Anton Lesser (Narrator)

Book Description

Series: Junior Classics

How can the Tortoise run faster than the Hare? What happens when the dog growls at its image? Or when the Country Mouse goes to supper with the Town Mouse? These wonderful stories have delighted adults and children for centuries, with their witty observations on animals and humans too. In the Fox, in the Crow, in the Lion, in the Ass who puts on a wolf's skin, we see human kind with all its foibles. The stories are told with the enduring magic of a master story-teller, and set against the bright sounds of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and sound effects.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Anton Lesser translates five classic children's stories to audio. Highlighting the production are energetic classical music and animal sound effects. Regrettably, the music is overused and detracts from Lesser's dramatic reading. It confuses the listener, giving the false impression of a break or the beginning of a new story. Lesser tries to read with emphasis but is dominated by the music. The result is tepid, at best. An illustrated booklet is included. A.G.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9626342072
• ISBN-13: 978-9626342077
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #837,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, June 12, 2009

By 

T. Webster (Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aesop's Fables (Junior Classics) (Audio CD)

Aesop lived in the 500s BC. His name was known to Aristotle, Plato, and Aristophanes, but we don't have anything actually written by Aesop. His fables have survived in retellings by others, so that the term Aesop's Fables is really a generic designation. No doubt many stories told as Aesop's Fables were created by others. Many seem to be traditional wisdom stories.

As another reviewer remarked, the fables are short. Those expecting longish stories like cartoons of the race between the hare and the tortoise may be disappointed with these versions. Having said that, however, I find this collection charming, thought provoking, and often amusing.

Anton Lesser is a well known stage actor who has read classics like Homer's Iliad and Milton's Paradise Lost for Naxos recordings. His way with these fables is subtle and elegant. The fables themselves in this version are well told, and Lesser uses distinctive voices for each of the animals, gruff for the lion, sophisticated for the fox, innocent for the lamb, and so forth. The stories run from about 30 seconds to 90 seconds, and each ends with a pithy moral that generalizes the lesson of the story. In collections of Aesop's Fables, these morals are sometimes off the mark, or windy, or preachy. Not here.

The music is from Vivaldi's Four Seasons and flute concertos, and is well played, though the music is really filler intended to vary the fare and remind listeners that Aesop might well have told his stories to the accompaniment of a harp or lyre, as bards did in Ancient Greece. The performances are quite good, but they are snippets that fade in and out at the endings and beginnings of the fable narrations. Occasionally the music is louder than it should be and you have to listen carefully for a few words.

Overall, I recommend this to children and adults (I'm an AARP member and listened to this recording several times while walking on a treadmill). These retellings of the fables are sophisticated and use fairly simple language. Children capable of learning words in Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket will quickly learn any new words in these stories, particularly if they listen to them several times, as children often do.

The fables attributed to Aesop are widely known throughout the Western World, and some of them are similar to stories told in India and Asia. My guess is that many people would find this collection of fables entertaining, instructive, and worth their while.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this CD and so does my 8 year old, July 1, 2008

By 

nestof3 "Dawn" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aesop's Fables (Junior Classics) (Audio CD)

We are listening to this while driving around town. The brief stories are perfect for those "running errand days" when we are in and out of the van.

I absolutely love the language, and so does my 8 year old son. My 7 year old son likes some of them, but is disinterested in others. I love the narrator's voice, and the music between stories is beautiful!

The annunciation of the individual fable titles could be better, though. Perhaps the music is too loud at that point.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I was Wanting, November 27, 2003

By 

K. St Clair "feathin" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aesop's Fables (Junior Classics) (Audio Cassette)

I bought this on cassette to entertain my 4-year-old during our 30-minute ride to school in the mornings. It was a complete failure, but to be fair the fault is probably my own ignorance of Aesop's Fables. The stories are VERY brief-- just enough to set up the moral at the end, not enough to set up any drama or catch my 4-year-old's interest. The morals themselves are worded in old-fashioned and/or very sophisticated language and are pretty much incomprehensible to this age child. I could perhaps see having this in book format and reading one or two stories at bed time, but for my needs the cassette at least is pretty useless. We'll be going back to the Jim Weiss stories on tape (which we've quite enjoyed).