Aesop's Fables > Books of Fables > Series Books > Readers Digest Young Families Famous Fables

Readers Digest Young Families Famous Fables

2006 The Lion and the Mouse: A Tale about Being Helpful. Retold by Sarah Price. Illustrated by Dennis Hockerman. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, July, '12. FF1

Here is a twenty-page children's picture book that extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. The version of LM here has the lion put aside eating the caught mouse on the basis of her being too small to bother eating. He then asks, however, why he should spare her life. She gives two reasons: because it would be kind and because she perhaps someday will have the chance to repay the kindness. The lion roars with laughter. That roar is familiar to the mouse later in the story.

2006 Pinocchio: A Tale of Honesty. Retold by Tom DeFalco. Illustrated by Tom Leigh. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.85 from Dennis Carlson, Kennesaw, GA, through eBay, Feb., '09. FF2

I include this book in the collection not because I think "Pinocchio" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables" and that includes a genuine fable, "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Tale of Tolerance." Like that book, this one is a twenty-page children's picture book that extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story.

2006 The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Tale of Tolerance. Retold by Karen Jennings and Mark Pierce. Illustrated by Dennis Hockerman. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.85 from Dennis Carlson, Kennesaw, GA, through eBay, Feb., '09. FF3

Here is a twenty-page children's picture book that extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. The version of TMCM offered here has several creative twists. Henry seems to show up at Emma's country door with a large gift, but I cannot find out anything more about it. They both enjoy the country meal. Emma has forgotten about picking berries, and so Henry offers to drive them both to town for dessert. His first suggestion was to "run to the corner store and get us something sweet," and Emma had to let him know that in the country people grow all their food. They drive to the city in a mouse-sized sportscar. "Sweet Treats" is right next to Henry's townhouse, with a dessert cart that invites the mice to a feast! They can sneak in under the front door. Pierre, the cook's cat, soon attacks and catches Emma by the tail; Henry has to grab Pierre's whiskers to get Pierre to free his paw from Emma's tail. They run out the back door past Rufus the dog. Henry asks if the dessert was not wonderful, and Emma agrees but asks if was worth all that danger. City life with its excitement is not for her. Henry drives Emma home and promises that he will come again next autumn. The next evening Henry goes out dancing in the city, while Emma settles in at her country home, enjoying turnip and cabbage stew with a nice cup of tea. It seems that tolerance consists in allowing each his or her own....

2006 The Tale of Tom Kitten: A Story about Good Behavior. Retold by Judith Adams. Illustrated by Nina Barbaresi. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.85 from Dennis Carlson, Kennesaw, GA, through eBay, Feb., '09. FF4

I include this book in the collection not because I think it should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables" and that includes a genuine fable, "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Tale of Tolerance." Like that book, this one is a twenty-page children's picture book that extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story.

2006 The Tale of Two Bad Mice: A Story about Respecting the Property of Others. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Maggie Swanson. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $4.25 from Talbotshop, Olympia, WA, through eBay, Oct., '10. FF5

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Tale of Two Bad Mice" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This is a quaint children's book about two mice that get into a doll house and wreak some damage but then do what they can to make up for it. It is, as the title proclaims, a story about respecting the property of others. I now seem to have some four books in this series. Like the others in the series, this one is a twenty-page children's picture book that extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story.&nb

2006 The Tortoise and the Hare: A Tale about Determination. Retold by Joanne Barkan. Illustrated by Susan Jaekel. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, April, '13. FF6

Here is a twenty-page children's picture book that extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. The version of TH here has the hare upsetting a peaceful scene around the pond. The hare decides to take a nap but sleeps longer than he had planned. The tortoise wears a ribbon around her head. Do not miss the lizard's leafy skirt. 

2006 Chicken Little: A Tale about Common Sense. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Atelier Philippe Harchy. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, April, '13.  FF7

I include this book in the collection not because I think "Chicken Little" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. "Chicken Little" actually works off of a fable motif, in which an acorn falling on Chicken Little's head sets off fears that the sky is falling. Several elements in this good story are not typical of fables. One is the pleasant names given to the animals, like Ducky Lucky and Goosey Loosey. Another is the shift in the story when Foxy Loxy leads all the terrified animals to his den. A third untypical element is the coincidence that a branch happens to fall on Foxy Loxy's head as he is about to devour Goosey Loosey, and now Foxy Loxy too thinks that the sky is falling. In the end, the kind king reassures the animals that the sky is not falling. 

2006 Cinderella: A Tale of Kindness. Retold by Sarah Price. Illustrated by Mary Hanson-Roberts. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, April, '13.  FF8

I include this book in the collection not because I think "Cinderella" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. In this version, Cinderella arranges for her stepmother and stepsisters to live at the palace. She even has the stepsisters marry two noblemen. This version is quite different then from that of the Grimms! 

2006 Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Tale about Respecting Others. Retold by Jane Monmouth. Illustrated by Maggie Swanson. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, April, '13.  FF9

I include this book in the collection not because I think "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. Goldilocks learns her lesson and never again enters a house when there is no one home! 

2006 Grandpa Mouse and Little Mouse: A Tale about Respecting Elders. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by AKY-AKA Créations and Olga Ionaytis. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF10

This book's story is a perenniel favorite. The grandson begins making wooden bowls for his parents, who have just condemned his grandfather to eat separately from a wooden bowl. The parents have a change of heart and reverence the grandfather through the grandson's intervention. Here the actors are all mice. The art is especially good in depicting the baby mouse that is just joining the family. A story like this seems to need the stereotypes of old age: blurry eyes, weak ears, and trembling hands. Reader's Digest in the case of this series seems frequently to have turned to art corporations rather than to individual artists. 

2006 It's Quite True!: A Story about Telling Tales. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Artful Doodlers. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF11

This book's story is not a known fable, but it approaches a fable in its simplicity, even though it goes through a number of steps. The story moves from a chance comment made by a hen over one feather of hers that falls. The comment is overheard and misunderstood. "I still look pretty with the feathers I have left!" A neighbor understands her to plan to pluck out all her feathers and comments that she thinks she will look better that way. An owl overhears, elaborates, and comments. Soon the report is that several hens "plucked out their feathers and caught a terrible chill." Before long there are supposedly ten to twenty hens who have been rushed to the hospital with a terrible disease! At this point the visual artists' best contribution occurs as one hen has to fan another who lies overwhelmed by this news. In the end the original hens read a newspaper report that sixty hens plucked out all their feathers to try to look more stylish and came down with a dreadful disease. "A story can change each time it is told."

2006 Stone Soup: A Tale about Sharing. Retold by Susan Kueffner. Illustrated by Susan Jaekel. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF12

This book's illustrations are more detailed than is usual in this extensive series of books. An outsider pig is the traveler with the stone soup idea and the stone to start it with. There is good fun here with the animals' contributions. The goat butts the kettle into the square. The dog has bones, the rabbit carrots, and the cat milk. At the story's end, the pig gives them the stone and then picks up a new one as he leaves town. Well done!

2006 The Boy Who Cried Wolf: A Tale about Telling the Truth. Retold by Joanne Barkan. Illustrated by Gary Undercuffler. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF13

This book tells the BW story unusually well. Julian's father needs to go away for three days and offers to get Julian help tending the sheep on this his first turn at the task, but the boy says that he does not need help. On the first day, he gets bored and so he does what he thinks will bring all the people a good laugh. He is still enjoying his joke as they go away grumbling. The second day he misses his father and is lonely. So without thinking he begins to shout "Help! A real wolf! Help!" The villagers go away even angrier this time and tell him not to bother them again. On the third day a real wolf appears and scatters the sheep as Julian looks on helplessly. Late that day his father returns and deals sternly with Julian, who complains at first that no one came to help him. Julian apologizes to each of his neighbors. The next day he and his father are able to round up all the sheep one by one.

2007 The Crow and the Pitcher: A Tale about Problem Solving. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Carol Heyer. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF14

Good subtitle! Yes, this fable is about problem-solving. In this version, we find ourselves in a parched desert. There is a pitcher party buried in the sand. Crow and Zebra are both thirsty. Crow realizes that tipping the pitcher over will spill the precious water. Including the zebra has the good effect of giving crow's activity an audience that witnesses the rising level of the water in the pitcher. Zebra is impressed and hopes that Crow can come up with a plan to make the river run again. Crow gets Zebra and other animals to dig for water in the riverbed. She enlists other crows to damn up the resuting water hole. I have never seen this second phase added to the fable. My guess is that the twenty-page format of this series has something to do with this addition. In yet another development, Gazelle had refused to help and went off to find her own water. She returns unsuccessful and learns from the experience, especially since Crow welcomes her back generously. I am not sure that adding these second and third phases strengthens the traditional fable. The zebra is in particular vibrantly illustrated. Also strong is the depiction of the young crows in the nest with wide-open beaks.

2006 The Bremen Town Musicians: A Tale about Working Together. Retold by Susan Kueffner. Illustrated by Dominic Catalano. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF15

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Bremen Town Musicians" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. In this version, the donkey wears glasses. The donkey is going to Bremen to sing for his supper. The others respond with statements like "Don't mind if I do" and "That's the life for me." This version also enjoys playing with the typical response of each animal, and so their statements begin with a "Haw, haw!" or a "Doodly-doo!" When they encounter the house with robbers and their treasure in it, they decide to sing for their supper perched on each other's back. The robbers perceive this discordant beast as a monster and run into the forest. A scout from the robbers returns to the house and is mishandled by the four "musicians." He runs off, and the thieves never return. His mishandling is usually done more elaborately, I believe, than it is here. Now the four friends live on happily in the house. "So they sang for themselves and for each other. And a fine life it was!

2007 The Fisherman and His Wife: A Tale about Being Satisfied. Retold by Karen Baicker. Illustrated by Len Ebert. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF16

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Fisherman and His Wife" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. I am struck that this fairy tale expresses some things that I have been preaching over the past few years. The wife's unbounding desires are never satisfied. They reach Faustian proportions when she wants to control the sun. The fish gets more annoyed with each wish that the poor fisherman brings. The fish knows best when the fulfillment of the last wish is rather to return the two humans to their original state. And, in this version at least, the wife knows now that she was being led in the wrong direction. "I am sorry that I was so greedy. And with each new wish that was granted, I just wanted more." Does this story usually involve three wishes, the third of which ends up reversing either the first or the second? I think that, in the Grimms' version, there is a simple reversal to the original state without insight. It seems rather a punishment than an insight.

2006 The Frog Prince: A Tale about Keeping Your Word. Retold by Catherine Lukas. Illustrated by John Carrozza and Joe Ewers. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, through eBay, April, '13. FF17

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Frog Prince" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. This is a good version. The princess' father keeps her to her word. After eating from her plate and sleeping on her bed three nights, the frog turns back into the prince he has always been. Does not the frog usually demand a kiss from the princess? Do traditional versions have the story turn, as here, on the loss of a favorite golden ball, which is retrieved by the frog.

2006 The Gift of the Magi: A Story about Giving. Retold by Susan Kueffner. Illustrated by Susan Jaekel. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF18

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Gift of the Magi" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. The visual artist may do an even better job than the storyteller here by showing the Magi on a table in the simple home of Annie and Jim. The irony of the two gifts comes out when Annie wants to see how the new chain looks on Jim's watch, just as he would have wanted to see how the new combs look in Annie's hair. Each gave up his or her treasure to buy the other something for her or his treasure. A perennial sto

2006 The Grasshopper and the Ant: A Story about Planning. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Dennis Hockerman. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF19

This version of GA has Ant worried about fixing a leak in the roof on a clear sunny day in summer. Next Ant is knitting a blanket. The next day Grasshopper is on his way to a swim -- with goggles and beach towel -- but Ant is chopping and stacking firewood. Late in the summer, Grasshopper invites Ant to a picnic but Ant is canning and pickling. When we see Grasshopper in winter, he is inside his own house but he lacks a number of things: a blanket, wood, food. When Ant asks what he has been doing all summer, he answers with regret "I was playing." Ant relents and invites him in to hot soup. As they sit before the fire, Ant smiles and says that he "should be doing a bit more dancing" in his life and asks Grasshopper to teach him how to dance. I would not say that this fable is generally about planning; it has to do with a lot deeper attitudes to life, I think, including receptivity, enjoyment, and celebration.

2006 The Hut in the Forest: A Tale about Being Kind to Animals. Retold by Christina Wilsdon. Illustrated by Meredith Johnson. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF20

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Hut in the Forest" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. This story is in fact new to me. It is a fairy tale in which a sister does better than her two older brothers. She gives her food to the animals of an old man in a hut as he asks; her two brothers had eaten the food themselves and lied that they fed the animals. The old man turns into a king, and his hut belongs now to the woodcutter whose children were the main players in this story. Magic, transformations, and a happy ending. We are a long way from fables he

2006 The Jungle Book: A Story about Loyalty. Retold by Jane Arlington. Illustrated by Joel Schick. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF21

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Jungle Book" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. "The Jungle Book," which I have not read before, is perhaps the most complex book in this series. As Wikipedia says, "The best-known of them [the stories in 'The Jungle Book'] are the three stories revolving around the adventures of an abandoned 'man cub' Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle." I was surprised first to come across "Akela," a name which I remember from my Cub Scout days. I was next surprised to learn that Robert Baden-Powell asked Kiplilng's permission to take over material from Kipling's jungle world and apply it to scouting. For me, this book shifts stories too often within its narrow confines. It seems clear to me, however, that our hearts are meant to be with Mowgli.

2006 The Little Red Hen: A Tale about Cooperation. Retold by Justine A. Ciovacco. Illustrated by Loretta Lustig. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, through eBay, April, '13. FF22

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Little Red Hen" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. "The Little Red Hen" is a great traditional story. Yes, it is about cooperation. It is perhaps even more about work and its consequences. The hen finds some grains of wheat. At each stage, from planting to baking, she asks for help from her three friends: the cat, the dog, and the pig. "Not I" is the standard answer from each of these lazy friends, and her standard response is "Then I will do it myself." When it comes to eating the bread that results from the process, she allows only those to eat who helped along the way -- and concludes with her line now applied to eating the bread: "Then I will do it myself." The four characters are clothed in human garb throughout.

2007 The Little Seed: A Tale about Integrity. Retold by Susan Kueffner. Illustrated by Dennis Hockerman. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF23

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Little Seed" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. "The Little Seed" is new to me. An aging monkey king has no children and wants to name his successor as king. He decides to take one of the children. Which one? He gives them all a test: to plant and nurture for six months a seed which he gives them and then to return and show him the results. Amina the elephant child is so disappointed when her seed does not grow, but at her mother's urging she brings the pot before the king when all the other children bring their brilliant flowers. It turns out that the king had boiled all the seeds. Only Amina was honest about her seed. All the others substituted other seeds when the king's seed did not sprout. This is a clever story!

2006 The Lucky Boots: A Tale about Learning from Mistakes. Retold by Jacqueline A. Ball. Illustrated by Renate Lohmann. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF24

I include this book in the collection not because I think "The Lucky Boots" should be viewed as a fable but because this volume is part of a series that is labeled "Famous Fables." This twenty-page children's picture book extends onto its back endpaper with tips for parents, including strategies, discussion questions, and activities that grow out of the story. "The Lucky Boots" is new to me. It is a highly romantic story about the apprentice fairy Lucky earning her wings by learning the difference between wishful thinking and true wishes. Green boots sprinkled with fairy dust are the medium for giving people their wishes. In the end, a single army captain pursues his own wish and obtains it, just as Lucky obtains her wings.

2006 The Miller and the Donkey: A Tale about Thinking for Yourself. Retold by Susan Kueffner. Illustrated by Beverly Branch. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF25

This is a favorite fable, and I am happy to see it included in this collection. Both text and illustration here are well done. The early story sets the miller up to look older than he is and to have his twelve-year-old son seem younger than he is. They go through several villages or at least gathering points. At the first, the women applaud when the miller responds to their criticism by lifting his boy onto the donkey. Their next encounter is occasioned by a discussion which a group of men is having is having on the street. Of course their discussion is about young folk's respect for elders! They look down on town and begin their descent when a man going in the other direction asks "Is that your own donkey you're riding?" He suggests that they ought to carry the poor creature. Crowds in town repeat a comment made in the first encounter: "Makes me wonder which one is the master and which one is the donkey!" In its biggest surprise, this version has the donkey break free of his ropes and knock the miller into the river. The artist actually has the donkey kick the miller into the water! The donkey quickly runs into the hills, not to be found again. "From now on we will think for ourselves."

2006 The Nightingale: A Tale of Compassion. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Beverly Branch. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, April, '13. FF26

This is a perenniel story that is, I believe, sometimes presented as a fable. I find it highly romantic. It involves several key phases, and that fact may militate against its being considered a fable. First, an emperor discovers that he has a bird of unusual quality in his empire. Next, he brings it to his palace, where it is treated with respect but also confined and restricted. In a crucial next phase, a mechanical bird is brought in alongside of and even in competition to the natural nightingale. The mechanical bird can sing only one song, while the natural nightingale sings many. The nightingale reacts after a time by flying away, and the emperor in response banishes the natural nightingale from his palace. One might ask in an interjection if this banishment is not rather, from the nightingale's perspective, a liberation. The emperor eventually grows sick, and the mechanical bird fails. The natural nightingale returns, and the emperor grows healthy again. The nightingale promises to visit often. The emperor had wept the first time he heard the nightingale sing. When he asks from his sickbed what he can do to repay the nightingale, she answers that those tears long ago were already her payment.

2006 The Pied Piper: A Tale about Promises. Retold by Tom DeFalco. Illustrated by Joe Ewers. Second printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, April, '13. FF27

This is an age-old story, and the subtitle rightly focuses our attention as we read it on keeping our promises. I realize only now that the expression "paying the piper" may well arise from this tale. Here that tale is well told. I had forgotten that the piper doubles his price when he offers to bring the children back. Here he explicitly ties the rise in price to the unkept promise of the greedy mayor. In this series, there are seldom "bad guys," and so here the major learns his lesson and lives happily after. He no longer breaks promises. In keeping with that same tenor in this series, the piper leads the rats out to a good habitat where they can live happily.

2007 The Racers: A Tale about Fairness. Retold by Karen Baicker. Illustrated by Jon Goodell. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF28

This story is new to me. I find it the least satisfactory of the twenty-eight books in the series so far. It lacks the kind of focus necessary for a fable; I would say that it lacks even the focus necessary for a good story. There is plenty of controversy on how to judge a year's racing winner when one takes all sorts of perspectives into account. For me the good issue pesented here never gets settled. Snail is somehow vindicated as coming in in second place and becoming a judge in next year's "race."

2006 The Rooster and the Fox: A Tale about Being Clever. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Artful Doodlers. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF29

This is not the simple Aesopic fable about universal peace and a sighting of dogs in the distance. This rooster is the protector of the henhouse. The story's first phase has the rooster tricking the fox into shutting the door to the henhouse by leaping at the rooster. The second phase has rooster laying a trail of hen feathers straight to a cave full of dogs. Fox follows the trail but hears the dogs just in time to scamper away. In a third phase, fox has caught a hen, but rooster tells him that this hen has a disease. His ploy buys enough time for the farmer to get onto the scene. Only in a fourth phase does the Aesopic ploy appear. I think the twenty-page format for these books has something to do with this unusual plot. This time fox goes away never to return.

2006 The Selfish Giant: A Tale about Being Unselfish. Retold by Justine A. Ciovacco. Illustrated by Len Ebert. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF30

This story is not from the fable world I know. It is a heartwarming story of a garden that blooms only when children play in it and of a selfish giant that remembers his own childhood struggles and becomes an unselfish giant. The story is uplifting. One would never mistake it for a fable.

2006 The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies: A Story about Courage. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Maggie Swanson. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF31

This story is not from the fable world I know. It is a heartwarming story of six bunnies captured and, through the work of a plucky mouse, released. I am not sure whose courage the subtitle praises. Mr. McGregor had captured the sleeping young bunnies, who always became sleepy after they had eaten lettuce, and had put them into a sack. Parents Benjamin and Flopsy awakened to find their children captured. Thomasina Tittlemouse nibbled a hole in the corner of the sack. Mr. and Mrs. McGregor got a mean surprise when they opened the sack to find not bunnies but old vegetables inside.

2006 The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck: A Story about TrustRetold by Karen Jennings and Mark Pierce. Illustrated by Maureen Carter. Second printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF32

This story is not from the fable world I know. Jemima is dissatisfied living on the farm because her eggs are taken from her and hatched by hens. The farmer's wife thinks that "ducks are poor sitters." Jemima goes off into the world to find a fitting place to hatch her chicks. That she is naïve would be an understatement. She meets a fox reading the sports page and he offers her his shed as a great place for a nest. "I love eggs and ducklings," he says. Soon he is telling Jemima to bring herbs for a feast including omelettes, and she still does not realize that she and her children are to be the food. Luckily, she confides in Kep, a collie, who quickly rallies some of the local foxhounds to save Jemima. They scare off the fox, and she can return to the farm to hatch her own eggs there. "What a wonderful sight it is to see a proud mother duck wit her very own ducklings."

2006 The Tale of Johnny Appleseed: A Story of Generosity. Retold by Christina Wilsdon. Illustrated by Jeff Fisher. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF33

Here is a great American legend that starts on a little farm in Pennsylvania. New to me is the source of Johnny's seeds. Cider mills did not need the seeds. Johnny headed west with bags of them. One wonders about the factual basis of a great story like this one. In this version, Johnny takes on some heroic traits. He gives away new shoes to those who need them more than he does. Johnny frees animals from traps and cares for lost ponies.

2007 The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle: A Story about Taking Care of Others. Retold by Margaret Snyder. Illustrated by Maggie Swanson. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF34

This story is brand new to me. Little Lucy, who loses things, loses a handkerchief. Her search for it brings her to the diminutive home of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a self-proclaimed excellent clothes washer. Among the wash, she finds not only her handkerchief but other items that have been lost recently. Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle dries and irons all sorts of things for all sorts of local animals. She delivers them and then, as she scrambles back towards home, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle turns out to be a hedgehog. We are quite far from fable in this story.

2006 The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin: A Story about Being Polite. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Jill Bauman. Second printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, through eBay, April, '13. FF35

I had heard of this story frequently, and so I am happy to read it at last. It is a story that dramatizes politeness especially by its absence in Squirrel Nutkin, who torments Old Mr. Brown, the owl overseer of the squirrels' favorite island. After too many insults, Old Mr. Brown catches Squirrel Nutkin by the tail, the tail he had used as a sail for getting to the island. Nutkin breaks away from Mr. Brown's fierce grasp only at the cost of losing most of his tail. Children, be as polite as those other squirrels, and do not be like Squirrel Nutkin!

2006 The Three Little Pigs: A Tale about Working Hard. Retold by Julie Hawksley and Sharon Yates. Illustrated by Colin Petty. Second printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $1.60 from Jamie Johnson, Manistee, MI, through eBay, April, '13. FF36

This version of the age-old story is true to my childhood memories. There is the fine threesome of building materials: straw and rope; sticks; and bricks. There are the two repeated formulae: "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin" and "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down." I did not remember that all three pigs made it to safety in the brick house nor that the wolf tried to get in through the chimney but got only a scorched tail and ran off. That third pig was able to build quite a house in apparently just one day!

2007 The Ugly Duckling: A Tale about Accepting Differences. Retold by Catherine Lukas. Illustrated by Jill Baumann. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF37

This version of the age-old story is true to my childhood memories. The ugly duckling in this version has to go through a number of rejection experiences. One hint to the bird's identity comes when he sees a flock of swans fly overhead and finds them the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. The first final revelation comes when he flaps his wings and finds himself flying. The second is when he is not rejected by swans. The clincher comes when he looks at himself in the mirrorlike water.

2007 The Velveteen Rabbit: A Story about Love. Retold by Sarah Albee. Illustrated by Jeff Fisher. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF38

Here is a classic story whose point is that love makes real. A key line is the boy's response to a nanny who has had to clean up his beloved velveteen rabbit after it was left out on the lawn: "He isn't a toy. He is REAL!" In the end, the velveteen rabbit through a fairy becomes a real rabbit because he has been loved. He revisits the boy who has made him real. About this story my questions are: Will its appeal outlast our postmodern era? And would earlier ages have responded to this story?

2006 The Wild Swans: A Tale of Persistence. Retold by Joanne Barkan. Illustrated by Renate Lohmann. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF39

This story is new to me. Wikipedia describes Hans Christian Andersen's story this way: In a faraway kingdom, there lives a widowed King with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry. He marries a wicked queen who was a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into swans (they are allowed to become human by night) and forces them to fly away. The queen then tries to bewitch their 15-year old sister Elisa, but Elisa's goodness is too strong for this, so she has Elisa banished. The brothers carry Elisa to safety in a foreign land where she is out of harm's way of her stepmother. There, Elisa is guided by the queen of the fairies to gather nettles in graveyards; she knits these into shirts that will eventually help her brothers regain their human shapes. Elisa endures painfully blistered hands from nettle stings, and she must also take a vow of silence for the duration of her task, for speaking one word will kill her brothers. The king of another faraway land happens to come across the mute Elise and falls in love with her. He grants her a room in the castle where she continues her knitting. Eventually he proposes to crown her as his queen and wife, and she accepts. However, the Archbishop is chagrined because he thinks Elisa is herself a witch, but the king will not believe him. One night Elisa runs out of nettles and is forced to collect more in a nearby church graveyard where the Archbishop is watching. He reports the incident to the king as proof of witchcraft. The statues of the saints shake their heads in protest, but the Archbishop misinterprets this sign as confirmation of Elisa's guilt. The Archbishop orders to put Elisa on trial for witchcraft. She can speak no word in her defence and is sentenced to death by burning at the stake. The brothers discover Elisa's plight and try to speak to the king, but fail. Even as the tumbril bears Elisa away to execution, she continues knitting, determined to keep it up to the last moment of her life. This enrages the people, who are on the brink of snatching and destroying the shirts when the swans descend and rescue Elisa. The people (correctly) interpret this as a sign from Heaven that Elisa is innocent, but the executioner still makes ready for the burning. Then Elisa throws the shirts over the swans, and the brothers return to their human forms. The youngest brother retains one swan's wing because Elisa did not have time to finish the last sleeve. Elisa is now free to speak and tell the truth, but she faints from exhaustion, so her brothers explain. As they do so, the firewood around Elisa's stake miraculously take root and burst into flowers. The king plucks the topmost flower and presents it to Elisa and they are married. This version is shortened and sanitized. Gone are the wicked queen, the archbishop, tumbril, and the final flower. Still here are the eleven brother swans, the nettles, the alternatives of silence or the brothers' death, the shirts, and the one-winged brother.

2006 The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: A Tale about Appearances. Retold by Susan Kueffner. Illustrated by Artful Doodlers. First printing. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF40

This story represents a transformation of the traditional Aesopic fable. First, this version develops the beginning by inserting three phases taken from two fairy tales and a fable. This wolf sees Little Red walking along the path but remembers the bad experience arising out of his last encounter with her. He next encounters three little pigs but remembers the scorched tale he got from his encounter with them. In his third phase he comes upon a shepherd boy who sees him and cries "Wolf!" His brother mutters "Not again," and his parents come and comfort the boy, saying perhaps he is lonely and needs company. His mother offers him a glass of milk! When it seems that we are ready for the usual fable, there is a brilliant narrative turn. Instead of donning a skin, the wolf has hid in a pile of fleece and gets the bright idea of smearing himself with honey and letting fleece stick all over his body. Two illustrations, both repeated, mark this moment and the result. The two pictures occur not only during the story but on the cover and title-page, respectively. This story does not then go the usual route of the fable, according to which the disguised wolf gets into the pen but is seized by the shepherd as his evening meal. Rather the sheep themselves reject this intruder. A ram butts him into brambles, which remove his disguise. Both the bees and the townsfolk come after him. He barely escapes and returns to eating nuts, berries, and leaves. The story gives witness to the creativity of the fable tradition.

2006 Tug of War: A Tale about Being Resourceful. Retold by Susan Kueffner. Illustrated by Susan Jaekel. Hardbound. Pleasantville, NY: Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $0.81 from Kim Munson, Apple Valley, MN, through eBay, July, '12. FF41

A picture just past midpoint of this book tells it all: Monkey arranges a tug-of-war with either of two crocodile cousins who patrol the river. Instead of contesting himself, he pits the two against each other. He sets the tug-of-war at a point where he can watch from a tree but neither contestant can see the other. The two crocodiles pull vigorously for a day and welcome his suggestion that they let it go until tomorrow. The next day both crocodiles give up, and since then the monkey has so great a reputation that crocodiles will form an island chain for him to hop across the river on their backs.

2006 Famous Fables Activity Book. Edited by Sharon Yates. Illustrated by Loretta Lustig, Beverly Branch, and Atelier Philippe Harchy. Hardbound. (Pleasantville, NY): Famous Fables: Reader's Digest Young Families. $7.95 from lilhoneypi through Amazon.com, May, '13. FF42

This is a 24-page pamphlet offering activities built upon three of the books in the series of "Famous Fables": "The Little Red Hen"; "The Nightingale"; and "Chicken Little." The stickers are missing. At the end there is even a certificate to fill out to certify that the person named has read these three books and completed the activities. Congratulations!

end