The Fox and the Stork with The Man, His Son and the Donkey
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Abstract
Award Publications had already published a pamphlet of these two stories illustrated by Biro in 2001. Now it comes out in a large print edition meant for children. The size is the same (8½" x 9½") but the print is larger. Biro's style remains engaging, and he explains important elements of the story well. Thus, at the fox's dinner, the absence of spoons--which the stork would be too polite to ask for--is mentioned. I do not think that I have seen "spoons" mentioned in this story before. The narrative here drops mention that the stork knows that the fox is too polite to pick up his jug and tip the meat into his mouth. The faces which Biro gives to the stork on the title-page and to the fox on the story's last page are excellent. In MSA, both father and son wear turban-like headgear. The workmen along the way suggest that a donkey is good for carrying two people, and thus the double load is here not an original idea of the man. After each encounter, the man (not identified as a miller here) thinks that he should please the person who has given him advice. Carrying the donkey into town occasions a statement that the donkey must be lame, and the father fears that he will not be able to sell him. At the end, they fall into the water with the donkey.
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Publisher
Award Publications Limited