Creighton University

What a creative concept!  The twin sister of the mouse that ran over the lion ends up gnawing through the lion's net -- and so redeems herself in the eyes of her more athletic sister.  The original fable is presented in one page, and then Bitsy narrates that that is not how the story really went.  Bitsy's sister Catnip was the athletic sister, and Bitsy was invisible.  Catnip did the parts of the first phase of the story but was cowardly when it came to the second phase.  That's where Bitsy stepped in.  Since then Catnip is kinder to Bitsy.  Who would have thought to turn this fable into a story about sibling rivalry?!  Well illustrated.  Ideal, of course, for brothers and sisters who have to deal with sibling rivalry!

What a creative concept!  The original fable is again told in one page, with the key line coming from the ants: "You made your choice.  Now live with it!"  Well expressed!  Harper, the story's grasshopper, opens by claiming not to be lazy.  Harper insists that the real story begins where the traditional fable leaves off.  Harper, who dresses as something of a hippy, proclaims great love for music, which all the animals and insects loved, except the ants.  The movement into fall found Harper asking the ants for food and being rebuffed.  Harper grew weaker, too weak to play the fiddle – until Lark, a young ant, appeared with food.  She kept Harper alive.  She asked if Harper might please teach her to play the fiddle.  Soon after her success, other animals, including even some ants, agreed to form an orchestra.  They premiered at the first-ever "Harvest Festival Concert."  Moral?  "Make time for music and sharing too!"  The two-page segments of this 24-page booklet are well illustrated.  A good sample is the contrasting music-making above ground with the ant-work beneath ground.

What a creative concept!  The original fable is again told in one page.  Then the wolf, "Whisper," appears to tell what really happened.  Whisper's mother died shortly after his birth.  Kind sheep took him in and even fashioned sheep costumes so that he would fit in.  When he wanted to howl, they told him "Whisper" so regularly that that became his name.  When Whisper grew up, he was meant as a wolf to roam, and so he did, departing from the sheep trailing a contemporary roller-bag.  After roaming, he became homesick and returned to his flock, unfortunately so eager that he forgot to put on a costume.  The new young shepherd did what he was taught to do: he cried "Wolf!"  Whisper hid as the townsfolk arrived to find calm sheep.  The townsfolk, especially Walter, the flock's owner, thought it was a trick.  When the shepherd wheezed, they thought he was giggling.  At Whisper's next visit, the costume popped off, the shepherd wheezed again, and the townsfolk again grumbled.  The angry villagers then dressed sheep Baaarbara as a wolf to scare the shepherd boy and teach him a lesson.  The boy cried "Wolf!"  No one came.  He picked up a club to beat Baaarbara the wolf, Walter ran to save his sheep, and Whisper ran to save Baaarbara.  At that climactic moment -- when we expect a giant crash -- the shepherd boy quit and walked away – back to pet grooming school.  Walter created the Wooly Walt's Traveling Sheep and Wolf Show.  Moral: "Whether you're a wolf in sheep's clothing, a sheep in wolf's clothing, or anything in between, remember: There's always more to the story than meets the eye!"  The two-page segments of this 24-page booklet are well illustrated.  A good sample is the final page of the old truck carrying the Sheep and Wolf Show.  Whisper gets all the best positions and expressions!

What a creative concept!  The original fable is again told in one page.  Then Balderdash the tortoise, "Dash" for short, declares that the fable as told is true but leaves out "all the good stuff" -- especially, apparently, that this race gave Dash a start as a comedian.  My, we are into creative new territory here!  A first surprise in Dash's narration is that Jiffy the hare was so slow that he could not keep up with the other hares.  Jiffy's consequent teasing of Dash "made me what I am," for Dash learned to "find the funny."  In the race, Dash, already outdistanced, began to make jokes that the onlooking animals loved.  Even Jiffy was watching and admiring Dash's antics.  Near the end of the race, Jiffy was found snoring by the side of the path.  A fake sneeze near the finish line woke Jiffy up, but Dash still won.  Dash actually got Jiffy to start laughing, and soon Jiffy was rolling around laughing hard.  Jiffy had an "aha!" moment and put a paw on Dash's shell: "Sorry I acted like such a jerk.  You were really great out there, Dash."  Jiffy and Dash became partners in comedy: "Coming soon to a forest near you: The Jiffy and Dash Show!"  "Sure, slow and steady might win the race.  But slow and funny will win you the laughs!"  The two-page segments of this 24-page booklet are well illustrated, though perhaps not with the eye to detail of the other three booklets in the series.  A good sample might be the three different illustrations on 14-15 showing Dash pretending to trip, wiping sweat off his face, and slowly peeping out from his shell.