Aesop's Fables: By Beverly Naidoo

         Aesop's Fables are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived between 620 and 560 BCE. These fables have been transferred across cultures and generations and still exist today. In Aesop's Fables by Beverley Naidoo takes these classic tales and tells them for the first time using an African style and setting, using Piet Grobler's illustrations. Naidoo and Grobler were inspired to make use of an African style because Aesop himself is speculated to have possibly come from African descent. There are a total of 16 fables contained in this collection, each is told using a simple language style that makes them accessible to a target audience of younger readers. Stories range from a lion and warthog fighting over who gets the first drink, then realizing that being friends would be better, a farmer teaching his children that working hard is a true treasure, a little mouse saving the life of a great lion, and much more. At the end of each tale the moral of the story is written to help point it out and allow the readers to draw meaning from the creative writing, and learn about human values.
        Each fable is written in a white background and outlined with a watercolor frame that makes the text stand out from the busy African style images. Each of Grobler's illustrations are vivid and dynamic, helping to bring the fable to life and create visual interest on every page. The title of every story is a work of art in itself, written in a tribal-inspried font. The visual elements all come together nicely to turn the collection of well-told fables into a full package work of story and art.
        Aesop's Fables by Beverley Naidoo, received a Parents' Choice Silver Honor, meaning that the Parents' Choice Foundation praises the book with being designed to both entertain and help children develop universally ethical attitudes, and rigorous standards and skills. This collection containing 16 of Aesop's fables is brilliantly written and illustrated for children with a range of ages, possibly 5-11. This book works well because the stories make use of simple language, the moral is clearly pointed out, and the illustrations are dynamic and accessible. This book would be great for a study of cultures or of folktales and their origins. Teachers would enjoy reading these fables aloud just as much as students would enjoy reading them and studying the unique African style illustrations.

Classroom extension:
Teachers (or parents) could read this book aloud, then have students/children think-up, write, and illustrate their own Aesop-inspired fables using their own artistic styles.

Picture Source: http://www.amazon.com/Aesops-Fables-Beverley-Naidoo/dp/1847800076