Aesop's Fables

July 1, 1970
In her first book, German artist Durr uses pencil and charcoal to illustrate a particularly imaginative selection of 17 classic fables. Although many entries are familiar, Thuswaldner makes room for more unusual choices. In ``A Dress for the Moon,'' for example, the moon's mother complains of the moon's ever-changing size, which makes her ``the despair of the very best of dressmakers!'' The retellings are graceful and, true to Aesop, do not tack on any aphoristic morals. With its sophisticated design, however, the volume lacks child appeal. Sketchy and airy, the art is more conceptual than purely narrative; the duotone presentation may obscure the visual transitions between many of the spreads. Color remains the province of the type, printed in a distractingly bright, tomato red that seems almost to vibrate against the stark white paper. All ages.

September 1, 1988
These 10 fables are given a fresh treatment in rhyme, and a new look by Rayevsky. His foxes, bears, lions and other animals appear in medieval and Shakespearean capes, jerkins and plumed hats, all in deep reds, subtle browns and greens. The verses are not always successful, often indulging in inverted syntax to rhyme, and uneven metrics. But phrasing is often clever, and humor is everywhere. In true Aesopian fashion, the morals are soundly thumped at the end: mouse and lion awkwardly learn, ``Yes, sometimes the weak and sometimes the strong/ Must help each other to save right from wrong.'' The boy who cried wolf is more snappily told, ``Please learn your lesson/ Young man and beware:/ Never cry `Wolf!'/ When the wolf isn't there.'' Ages 4-7.