Customer Reviews

Fables

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm on an Arnold Lobel kick these days. Having breezed through the sweet, "A Treeful of Pigs", stopped to admire his treasury of nursery rhymes (two thumbs way way up on that one), and genuflected in the face of the eternally classic tales of Frog and Toad I'm actually getting around to reading his 1981 Caldecott winning picture book, "Fables". Lobel deserves every inch of praise he received for this admirable work. Imagine how difficult it must have been to create not one, not two, but twenty absolutely new fables filled to the brim with wit and wisdom! Not an easy task. Still, Lobel not only faced up to the challenge but also accomplished it in a manner best befitting the gentleman he truly was. These are fabulous fables.

Each tale contained in this book is acted out by a variety of different animals. No two stories contain the same kind of animals (with the possible exception of one fable centering on a hen and another on a rooster). The stories are short and easy for youngsters to understand. They are usually followed up with little moral lessons along the lines of "At times, a change of routine can be most healthful" or "When the need is strong, there are those who will believe anything". Admittedly, these are half a step away from becoming fortune cookie messages. Still, there's no denying that each and every one is true. Sometimes they become particularly poignant. I am thinking of the story about a young mischievous kangaroo that would throw spitballs in school and put tacks on chairs. When his teacher went to his home to inform his parents of their son's terrible behavior, he found them throwing spitballs at one another and doing just the kinds of things the little one had done in school. Moral: "A child's conduct will reflect the ways of his parents". Truer than most would think.

Accompanying these droll adventures are Lobel's very particular illustrations. As an artist, Lobel has given an entirely new level of sophistication to his creations. Though undeniably Lobellian (is that a word?) they're far more detailed than anything much his work before or since. In the story where a pig dreams of candies all night, the image on the opposite page displays a subtley shaded porcine character flying next to a gorgeous moon, a mélange of greens and yellows. Other delightful pictures include the one accompanying the story of two elephants. The pompous father elephant reads his paper, oblivious to the fact that his left slipper has caught fire from his pipe. Standing in front of him, eyes at half-mast (a look of singular disinterest on his face) a younger elephant gazes at the blaze serenely. Children familiar with Lobel's "Frog and Toad" books might be ever so slightly disturbed by the story in which three frogs run to find the treasures at the end of the rainbow. Not only do the jacketed amphibian get eaten by a snake, but they all look a heckuva lot like Frog from the aforementioned popular series. Things to consider.

The tales told here are as well written and presented as an ancient Aesopian collection. I would greatly encourage you to pair this book with, "Anno's Aesop: A Book of Fables by Aesop and Mr. Fox". The books compliment one another and lead to similar sillinesses. If you've ever thought that you loved Lobel, think again. Until you've read this picture book you'll find you were completely in the dark regarding his real talents. A stunning accomplishment.

Amazon.com has this graded as for Baby-Preschool. No way. These are fables with morals, and the vocabulary is at least second grade. I teach Third Grade and this book accompanies my reading series.
There are some stories I like better than others for both content and message. (some I don't use) I'd recommend it for Second to Fifth graders.

My eight year old daughter came home from school with this book and proceeded to read many of the stories out loud (to me and to anyone else who would listen). The book has wonderful illustrations and each of the stories is brief and concise yet, entertaining. My daughter was eager to own the book and begged for me to buy it for her. At the end of each story is a one sentence 'moral' which helps focus the reader and helps her pay attention to the meaning of the fable.

This book won the Caldecott Medal for the best illustrated children's book of 1981. The book contains twenty one-page fables, facing a one page illustration of the key moment in each fable. The illustrations bring the morals of these tales to life in ways that will keep your children laughing. That will make the lessons more memorable, as well as more entertaining.

The fables are uneven in the relevance and importance of their messages. I graded the book down one star for the several fables that are more irreverent than relevant. You can obtain more benefit for your child if you selectively read the fables to emphasize the more important ones.

For an example of a weaker one consider The Pelican and the Crane. This is a story about a crane who invites a pelican to tea. The pelican is horribly uncouth and messy. The pelican complains that "no one ever calls me." The moral is stated as "when one is a social failure, the reasons are as clear as day." The narrower moral is about being inconsiderate, but that is never quite spelled out. So even the weaker fables can be tightened up with a little parental explanation.

I thought that the following stories were comparable in quality to Aesop's Fables:

The Crocodile in the Bedroom ("Without a doubt, there is such a thing as too much order."; The Ducks and the Fox ("At times, a change of routine can be most healthful."); King Lion and the Beetle ("It is the high and mighty who have the longest distance to fall."); The Lobster and the Crab ("Even the taking of small risks will add excitement to life."); The Hen and the Apple Tree ("It is always difficult to pose as something one is not."); The Baboon's Umbrella ("Advice from friends is like the weather. Some of it is good; some of it is bad."); The Frogs at the Rainbow's End ("The biggest hopes may lead to the greatest disappointments."); The Camel Dancer ("Satisfaction will come to those who please themselves."); Madame Rhinoceros and Her Dress ("Nothing is harder to resist than a bit of flattery."); The Pig at the Candy Store ("A locked door is very likely to discourage temptation."); and The Mouse at the Seashore ("All the miles of hard road are worth a moment of true happiness.").

In most cases, other lessons can be drawn from the same fables. I suggest that you and your child discuss what else you noticed in the stories. You can then add experiences that each of you have had during the day, and discuss the meaning of each.

Remember that only those who wish to experience the most misery and injury themselves prefer to learn only from their own mistakes.

Remember to look on the funny side of life's hard lessons!

Fables is a collection of fables that the author made up himself. They aren't the traditional fables of the world, but they still all contain a moral lesson. Each story is about animal characters, which makes the stories very enchanting.
Each story is very short and is contained within the borders of one page each. This is a good quality for a short story book because a story can be told in a very short amount of time. The whole book does not have to be read in order for the reader to benefit from it. The meaning of every story is stated at the bottom of every page. This is an advantage to the reader because they do not have to read the entire story to figure out if they want to read that particular fable.
Each fable is accompanied by its own colorful illustration. The illustrations are large and cover the entire page opposite the fable that it belongs to. Some of the illustrations are rather humorous and get the reader's attention before they even begin reading the story.
This would be a good book to have in a younger aged classroom. The stories are short so the reader is not bogged down by a long drawn out story. They are also humorous and are sure to get a laugh out of any youngster.

This children's book consists of twenty original fables containing animal characters (just as in Aesop's fables) with a moral at the end of each: for example, "Knowledge will not always take the place of simple observation." The book won the 1981 Caldecott Medal for best illustration in a book for children.

Middle elementary school.

I cannot remember a single one of these fables, which is because Lobel created them. They are fun with unexpected twists and wonderful morals.

Per usual, Lobel has superb, interesting, expressive, and fun illustrations. There is one illustration for each fable.

A collection of new fables using animals as characters and complete with little morals at the end of each one. There are all sorts of animals getting into all kinds of predicaments. The best thing about this book is that a kid doesn't have to sit down for very long to read the whole thing. Each fable is exactly one page, so it would be easy to just sit down and read a few if there isn't much time. I like the use of animals because it's traditional and fun for kids. The illustrations are hysterically funny as well.

This is a collection of twenty short, simply written fables. Each is crafted to make a moral point, The author is droll and funny. Children can read this one or have it read to them and actually get the point. The adult reading the book can enjoy the tongue-in-cheek humor. Both adult and child can enjoy the wonderful illustrations. Now you might take note here. I suspect that those adults that take themselves too seriously may not appreciate this work as much as those that do not. The points the story makes could make some uncomfortable as it does point out the foibles that many of us have. I really did not have that problems as I am well aware of my flaws and certainly do not take myself all that seriously. This is a great book to read to the kids and certainly leaves room for much discussion.

I'm 21, going on 22 in April, but this was always one of my favorite books (next to Shel Silverstein's Where The Sidewalk Ends). My favorite was Cat and His Visions. My mother would read it slowly and deliberately, licking her chops like the cat would. I noticed that there was also a note in the discussions area that someone's child had nightmares - I ALWAYS had nightmares, but THIS BOOK MADE ME WANT TO FALL ASLEEP BECAUSE I LAUGHED SO HARD that it made me sleepy! I wish I had been able to dream about the cat and his fish - but then again, we had two cats at my house. We actually had a house fire and our two cats died in '98 or '99, but I still have great memories of laying on my bed with my mom, sister, and our kitties, reading fables. And I honestly think I'm a better person because of the lessons that are taught - I always was read Aesop's fables in school to the point where I was almost sick of them, so having this and Shel's book were wonderful, wonderful.
And for any of you parents out there, YES, IT DOES MATTER IF YOU ARE DRAMATIC with the reading. You may be too embarrassed now, and you may be again when your kids are older, but from the time they're born to the time they are about 12, go for the gushy stuff - yes, it's crazy to think of MY mother acting like THAT, or hugging me or anything, but deep down it makes me so happy. Just don't suffocate the kids! ;)