Creighton University

In GGE, an elf appears magically to the poor farmer and gives him the hen, promising that she will lay a golden egg every day.  Soon he has many eggs.  He wants the "mine," but the inside of the hen looks more like a factory.  He loses his hen, his eggs, and his luck.  Surprisingly, the last page shows the living hen with both elf and farmer smiling.  In the second story, horse and ass share everything, including the work.  One day the farmer puts more on the ass than on the horse.  Again there is a happy ending: the ass survives and the horse apologizes.  In BW, the wolf eats the sheep one by one with the boy watching.  No happy ending here!  The dove saves the drowning ant by having him hang onto his legs.  The images fit well for the target age of 4 to 6 years old.  The best of them may be the second last including the hunter, his dog, the dove, and the diminutive ant.

This second booklet in the series continues the approach of the first.  Despite several clever developments of the stories, these versions resolve fables in untraditional and difficult ways.  The hare in this version rests several times, lets the tortoise catch up, and mocks her.  "Effort and perseverance will always win over arrogance": that is what the smiling hare has learned in this experience.  LS represents a fascinating reworking of the traditional fable.  The four animals agree to share "what they find," which apparently does not involve hunting.  One day they find a large chocolate cake.  The lion takes one share without comment and the others say "Sure."  He takes the second because he is the strongest.  They are surprised but say nothing.  When he takes the third, they argue that it is unfair.  He takes the fourth without comment.  The three realize that they cannot deal with unjust creatures like the lion.  This fable seems to me well resolved, despite the far-fetched birthday cake.  FG has a little bird converse with the fox after multiple attempts, answering that the grapes look just right to him.  Then, surprisingly, though the fox insists that they are unripe, she realizes that nothing is achieved without perseverance.  What?  Similarly, the last page of "The Stag and His Reflection" has the stag realizing, in apparent contentment, that his legs saved him.  Did they save him?  The hunter and his dogs had, one page earlier, "caught up to him."  "For what purpose?" an attentive child might ask.

This third booklet in the series continues the approach of the first.  Despite several clever developments of the stories, these versions resolve fables in untraditional and sometimes difficult ways.  The grasshopper, embarrassed, learns how important it is to work and be prepared for difficult times.  "The Lion and the Ass" makes several changes in the traditional fable.  The lion who moves into new territory finds food only with difficulty.  He has heard of a cave, but he is both too lazy and too afraid to scare the ghosts in the cave.  The ass creates a plan to get the delicious moss inside the cave but the lion in fact fears the ghosts.  The brave ass goes in to scare the ghosts, but instead frightens out a herd of goats.  The ass carries out enough moss for both animals to eat.  The ass is proud but the lion mocks him and he becomes more humble.  Having just eaten a deer, a wolf will allow a lamb to go free if he can tell the wolf three intelligent wishes that will convince the wolf to let him go.  The lamb does and thus learns the value of telling the truth.  DS teaches a dog that he should not be greedy and should not take what belongs to another.  The best illustrations here may be those for GA, especially the ants' underground winter home.

This fourth booklet in the series hews to the tradition more than the other three.  Still, it inserts some deviations, some of which I find helpful.  LM is utterly traditional and well illustrated.  "Do not look down on those who appear weaker."  In BC the mice no longer go out of their home for fear of being eaten.  They need to distract the cat.  How is not clear to me.  In the end, no one is brave enough to bell the cat.  The cat has been listening to their meeting and says to them: "Sometimes it is easier to say things than to do them, don't you think?"  The lapdog runs out to meet the farmer and the donkey and is warmly greeted by the farmer.  The farmer thinks that the donkey's greeting the next day is an attack!  In a new twist, the donkey learns that the farmer loves him just as he is.  Jealousy is never a good advisor.  I have never thought that the farmer might love and appreciate him as he is.  The crow in FC flies to a high branch so that other crows will admire him.  The fox asks "Do you sing as well as your fellow birds?"  Somehow the crow responds twice without losing the meat.  The appeal to envy here in two phases is, I believe, enlightened.  I will use it!