Fables

This 1981 Caldecott winner shines on audio as Mark Linn-Baker puts genuine feeling and warm humor into his reading of 20 fables by the late, great Arnold Lobel, best known for his enduring Frog and Toad books. These aren't your father's Aesopian fables but gentle, funny animal tales of mischievous kangaroos, pompous elephants, and dancing camels. Each story ends with a moral that rings true. There's nothing preachy about Linn-Baker's performance. In fact, it sounds like he's having fun. It seems as if kids have to make the same mistakes their parents make since they usually refuse to learn from well-meaning adult advice. But when the advice comes from sadder-but-wiser ducks, lions, and rhinos, kids might just accept such lessons as "all the miles of hard road are worth a moment of true happiness." Both the fables and Linn-Baker are charmers. M.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine