Mes plus belles Fables

Abstract

Au total, plus de 50 fables, admirablement illustrées, qui familiariseront les enfants avec ce genre littéraire si particulier. That is the back cover's marketing description, and it seems accurate to me. The art, which seems to be copyrighted (originally?) by Grafalco, is probably computer-generated. It is simple, colorful, and lively. It may be at its best in unusual or anomalous situations, like that of the sheep being poorly shorn. This book has soft, padded covers; I just tried to find a technical name for them but failed. A T of C at the back gives the order of the fables. Go first down the left column, and then down the right. The book is not paginated. Many of the fables are taken from Aesop rather than from La Fontaine. Fables take up mostly two pages, with occasional fables taking only one, a few taking four, and two -- TH and The Hare and the Porcupines -- taking six pages. Several fables here are new to me: The Fox and the Tortoise; Cleaning the Pig; La Mouche Savante; The Dog in a Lion's Skin; Two Dogs, and The Dolphin and the Shark. The version for The Barbered Sheep is good. The pain of his shearing is such that it gives the sheep voice. The story of the fox with a flaming tail adds a river to the story. Some pages show signs of use.