Review by New York Times Review
IN 1484, William Caxton, the man credited with introducing the printing press to England, brought Aesop to English speakers - and we've been reading him ever since. Aesop has been a part of the nursery for so long it is hard to imagine a jailed Socrates, awaiting execution, deciding that nothing is more important than turning the Greek slave's fables into poetry. Like the stories Plato called old wives' tales, these fables have become part of the cultural bloodstream, passing wisdom from one generation to the next. It was John Locke who urged parents to give their children an edition of Aesop with "pictures in it," and John Tenniel, Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham were among the artists who illustrated the fables, enlivening them with images that turned the stories into visceral hits with young readers. Animals have always made fine characters, and none more so than Aesop's pleasure-seeking grasshoppers, vain crows and brash hares. Aesop himself, however, remains something of an enigma. We know very little about the man and do not have a single tale written in his hand. The name, in fact, may be nothing more than a construct, much like Mother Goose. Under the great umbrella of Aesop's name come three new variations in the form of a pop-up book of classic tales, a vibrantly illustrated anthology setting the less familiar fables in Africa, and a new picture-book version of "The Lion and the Mouse." All three remind us how skillfully these stories walk the line between playfulness and instruction, rarely succumbing to heavy-handed lessons. The current versions of Aesop seldom let the message take over, as did the "mush and milk" school of moralists who once tortured British schoolchildren. They tend to play down what the Greeks called the epimythium, the concluding statement about the wisdom to be derived from each fable. In "Aesop's Fables: A Pop-Up Book of Classic Tales," illustrated by Chris Beatrice and Bruce Whatley, the morals appear in fine print on tiny white banners almost lost in the wow effects wrought by bursts of color on paper foldouts. In their telling of "The Lion and the Mouse" the king of the jungle leaps off the page spreading his paws in an effort to liberate himself from snares so magnificently formed they almost reach out to grab the reader. The golden egg laid by the goose shines so luminously from its pop-up nest we almost forget that its greedy owner killed the source of his wealth. If amped-up morals once overwhelmed the stories, here the images, in all their energetic elaboration, overpower the text in ways that might have troubled Locke but will not fail to entertain children today. Beverley Naidoo, inspired by the presence of African animals in the thickets of Aesop's landscapes and by his so-called Libyan tales, in which people talk to animals, speculates, as some have before her, that Aesop's name is derived from "Ethiop" and that the storyteller hailed from Africa rather than from Thrace or Phrygia. The 16 fables she retells, whimsically illustrated by Piet Grobler, enshrine survival skills, often siding not with the weak and vulnerable but with the crafty and cruel. "Life is tough" in the menagerie of Aesop's world, Naidoo affirms in her introduction, and she shows respect for the more unforgiving fables by including one describing a tortoise "smashed into a thousand tittle pieces" for not realizing that "just wishing for something" - in this case, wings - won't make it happen. But the Good Samaritan fables, rather than the harsher Darwinian tales, with their callous hawks and ambitious donkeys, often attract readers today. It is not surprising then that in choosing a fable Rand Burkert and Nancy Ekholm Burkert favor a soft approach to Aesop. Their "Mouse & Lion" is beautifully reimagined in soothing earth-tone watercolors for the younger reader. Jerry Pinkney's rendition of the same tale, which won the 2010 Caldecott Medal, taught us you don't always need words to get lost in Aesop's fables. All three of these new volumes give us versions of the same story, with the Burkerts naming the mouse first (given that he does the lion's share of the work) and Naidoo adding high-wattage verbal drama to the zany energy of Grobler's illustrations. In a brilliant touch, Rand Burkert shows us, on the last page of "Mouse & Lion," a contented beast surrounded by tiny creatures: "That day, such small things made him happy!" It's a reminder that miniature forms can have monumental effects, both ethical and aesthetic. Maria Tatar, director of the Program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University, is the author of "Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood" and "The Annotated Peter Pan."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 13, 2011]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In this beautiful Aesop retelling from a mother-and-son team, a tiny grass mouse takes top billing over his larger costar. The graceful, spare prose lends warmth and accessibility to the familiar tale of the brave mouse who trips over a sharp-toothed lion Sire, I took you for a mountain honestly! and has to plead for his freedom. However, it's the artwork that really shines here. Nancy Ekholm Burkert, illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1972), sets the story in Namibia's Aha Hills, and she traveled to Africa for inspiration. Rendered with extraordinary detail, the softly textured, naturalistic watercolor illustrations are set against against wide, blank backgrounds, which highlight the vastness of the landscape as seen through the eyes of one of its smallest inhabitants. Views of orange sunsets, starry skies, and soft yellow sunrises beautifully capture the movement from night to day and the subtle shifts of light on the land. Also noteworthy are blue-shaded scenes that cleverly illustrate stop-action sequences and the passage of time. The generous trim size and luxuriously thick, cream-colored paper further showcase the artwork, while an endnote illuminates the book-making process. Children (and adults) will pore over the minute details, while simultaneously admiring the grand majesty of each spread in this exquisite offering.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In jaunty prose, first-time author Rand Burkert-the illustrator's son-retells Aesop's fable of the mouse who stumbles over a lion ("Sire, I took you for a mountain-honestly!") and pleads for his freedom ("You might need me someday, in a pinch"); the mouse fulfills the prediction by gnawing him free from a hunter's net. "You shall also be free, Mouse!" says the lion. "I grant you liberty to climb every mountain in my kingdom." Caldecott Honoree Nancy Ekholm Burkert's (Snow-White and the Seven Dwarves) exquisitely drafted spreads celebrate the beauty of the African savannah, often from a mouse's-eye view: a graceful blade of grass, a moth's wing, the thorns of the scrubby African shrubs. Moments of drama are sometimes represented in a series of spot illustrations, the present instant in full color, those past or yet to come in pale blue, a lovely way of expressing time on an unmoving page. Creamy paper, a spare layout, and fine typography combine to create an object that reminds readers of the physical pleasures of books; it's a gratifying addition to Nancy Ekholm Burkert's small but treasured oeuvre. All ages. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-6-Skitter-scampering, deed-bragging, can-do Mouse takes center stage in this rousing rendition of Aesop's well-known fable. Awash with sun-warmed colors and breathtaking natural details, the elegant artwork portrays the delightful dynamic between two characters-one minute and one majestic-who prove to be equals in courage and kindness. (Aug.) (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The illustrator of an elegantly rendered Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs (rev. 4/73) brings her meticulous style to Aesop's classic, setting it -- as did Jerry Pinkney in The Lion and the Mouse (rev. 11/09) -- in Africa (here, in the border hills between Botswana and Namibia) and featuring the four-striped African grass mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio. Such specificity enriches the illustrator's keenly observed, every-hair-in-place art, yet never at the expense of her expert visual storytelling. The mouse, agile and life-sized, gets pride of place as the real hero of the tale, while the lion -- muscular, regal, relatively benign -- is depicted as the mouse might have perceived him, from a close-up of leg and claw to the whole beast at a safe distance. The lively action, together with a judicious sampling of flora, is arrayed on spacious white. Rand Burkert's character-revealing, story-advancing dialogue is the sort to captivate a group ("I'm a brave mouse, Sire. Put me down and I'll show you"..."I like you, little Mouse. Go and climb more mountains. And don't brag about your bravery!"); luxuriously sturdy paper invites small independent hands. Pinkney's effulgent wordless version is matchless; still, with its subtly expressive illustrations and entertainingly elaborated text, this is an admirable complement, sure to invite productive comparison. Author's and illustrator's notes. joanna rudge long (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A wee African grass mouse "receives top billing" (according to a concluding note) in this visually stunning retelling of Aesop's fable set amid the Aha Hills of Africa.One day Mouse rushes over a "tawny boulder that lay in his path," which, unfortunately, turns out to be King Lion, who traps Mouse and threatens to eat him. Dangling above Lion's jaws, Mouse begs for release and asserts his bravery. Intrigued, Lion asks Mouse to demonstrate his mettle, and Mouse fiercely tilts with a blade of grass. The amused Lion releases Mouse, who prophesies, "You might need me someday, in a pinch." A year later, Lion becomes hopelessly snared in a hunter's trap, and Mouse rescues him by nibbling the ropes. While the elegantly simple text conveys King Lion's transformation from negligent predator to appreciative victim, the exquisitely rendered brush, ink and pencil illustrations steal the show. Masterful use of white space, dramatic close-ups, arresting perspectives and meticulous respect for natural details memorialize the interaction between Lion and Mouse. Realistic images of Mouse pinned by Lion's claw, suspended above Lion's gaping mouth, acrobatically scaling a blade of grass, helpfully gnawing Lion's ropes and looking Lion in the eye emphasize the humanity of the natural world.A favorite ancient fable beautifully presented in the tradition of the finest picture books, this does not replace Jerry Pinkney's transcendent, Caldecott-winningThe Lion the Mouse but proudly takes its place beside it.(Picture book. 3 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
