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Val Biro: The Wright Group Fables from Aesop

1986/95 The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs. Val Biro. Tenth impression. Paperbound. Bothell, WA: The Wright Enrichment Reading #2: The Wright Group. £.15 from Javaslublu books, UK, through eBay, August, '05.

Number 2 in the series.  Here is a quirky eBay find. I had found one other book in this set, which now includes not twelve but rather eighteen members. Biro's work is always lively, and this eight-page presentation of GGE does not disappoint. Just two golden eggs are enough to have the greedy couple cutting open the goose. On 7, either of the two holds a half of the dead goose! Now I will have to see if I cannot find the full set!

1986/95 The Donkey in the Lion's Skin. Val Biro. Tenth impression. Paperbound. Bothell, WA: The Wright Enrichment Reading #3: The Wright Group. £.15 from Javaslublu books, UK, through eBay, August, '05.

Number 3 in the series.  Here is a quirky eBay find. I had found one other book in this set, which now includes not twelve but rather eighteen members. Biro's work is always lively, and this eight-page presentation of DLS does not disappoint. Biro has created one of the best composite donkey-lions I have seen for the title-page. The two-page spread of townsfolk fleeing is full of dynamism. In this version, the lion's skin falls off of the donkey and he brays. On the last page, the townsfolk are running after him. Now I will have to see if I cannot find the full set!

1986 The Eagle and the Man. Told and illustrated by Val Biro. Printed in Great Britain. San Diego: The Wright Group. $.75 at Adams Avenue Book, San Diego, Aug., '93.

A simple pamphlet by the illustrator of Collected Tales from Aesop's Fables (1986). This fable is not included there. #8 of a set of twelve.

1986 The Donkey and the Lapdog. Val Biro. Paperbound. San Diego: The Wright Group. $1 from Super-Fly Books, Phoenix, AZ, through Abe, March, '11.

Number 11 in the series.  I am doing what I can to find the full set of these eighteen pamphlets. Biro's work is always lively, and this is a fine sixteen-page presentation. Biro is particularly good at giving this donkey revealing facial expressions. The double-page spread on 10-11 may be the best of these good illustrations. The donkey is smiling as he upsets the table and breaks dishes. Even grandfather, in the picture on the wall, looks aghast! "I am no good at being a lapdog. I will just be a donkey" (16). Again, the resigned but puzzled expression of the donkey is excellent as he hangs his head over the gate of his stable. Finding the whole set will not be easy, but I am on my way.

1990 The Sick Lion. Val Biro. Paperbound. San Diego: Fables from Aesop 13-18: The Wright Group. $2.54 from Stormyriders Emporium, Port Townsend, WA, through eBay, Oct., '10.

Another nicely conceived work by Biro. Sixteen pages. This -- #16 -- is the only copy I have from the latest series, 13-18. The tired lion here wears a sport jacket, vest, and tie. Deciding to look sick, he puts on pajamas. A lovely double-spread page (6-7) has the fox warning the animals as they consider a visit to the "sick" lion that the lion might eat them. Day after day, unwitting victims visit the sick lion, and nobody sees them again.