Creighton University

Nacho reads to Tobi from this book.  A full-page cartoon of them precedes each fable and follows the last fable.  The latter applies the moral in the daily life of Nacho and Tobi.  Those preceding a fable often have a relation to the fable itself.  The six fables here are TH, AD, TB, "The Lion and the Donkey," TMCM, and UP.  There is a surprising ending to TMCM: the country cousin successfully invites the city cousin to join him in going back to the country (38).  One of the best morals in this number is that for AD: "Hay que pagar con la misma moneda a quienes nos ayudan" (17).  Also good is the moral for "The Lion and the Donkey": "Bragging frightens those who do not know one, but it makes those laugh who do know one" (31).  One of the best images here has the ant biting a big toe (15).  There is also an excellent cat in TMCM (37).  "Fun with fables" might be an apt subtitle for this series.  These cartoons and fables would engage a young reader.  Text and "ballooned" sayings in the illustrations complement each other in presenting the story.  This first volume ends nicely with the two boys having a pillow-fight.

Nacho reads to Tobi from this book -- in this number, in the bedroom.  A full-page cartoon of them precedes each fable and follows the last fable.  The latter applies the moral in the daily life of Nacho and Tobi.  Those preceding a fable often have a relation to the fable itself.  The six fables here are FC, "Jupiter and the Saddlebags," BC, DS, "The Wolf, the Goat, and the Little Goat," and "The Beautiful Girl and the Mirror."  This last fable is new to me.  The pretty girl asks the mirror regularly how she looks and gets complimentary answers -- until she eats the wrong things and gets pimples all over her face.  The mirror tries to avoid the subject but then tells the terrible truth.  The cartoon before FC has Nacho in pajamas saying to Tobi, who approaches in pajamas with a hotdog in his mouth: "Either you go outside or you spit it out, but I don't want you eating at my side."  The dog says "Spit it out!  Spit it out!"  The cartoon after FC has mom gushing over Tobi's awful piece of art "You're a genius!"  The cartoon after BC has a parent commanding Nacho to take the dog out, Nacho commanding Tobi to take the dog out, and the dog saying "It is easy to consider but difficult to actuate."  The cartoon before DS has Nacho ready to read, but the dog, looking into a mirror, says "Wait a minute.  There is a good looking dog in this mirror."  The same wolf's paw that reveals a wolf and not a goat-mother in the story reaches out from under the bed in the fine combination illustration on this book's front cover.  "Fun with fables" might be an apt subtitle for this series.  These cartoons and fables would engage a young reader.  Text and "ballooned" sayings in the illustrations complement each other in presenting the story.  The closing design has Nacho, Tobi, and the dog all peacefully asleep with this book on Nacho's lap.

Nacho reads to Tobi from this book -- in this number, outdoors.  A full-page cartoon of them precedes each fable and follows the last fable.  The latter applies the moral in the daily life of Nacho and Tobi.  Those preceding a fable often have a relation to the fable itself.  Before the first story, "La cigarra y la hormiga," Nacho asks Tobi if he does not want to sit on the grass rather than on a rock.  "No, there's a cigarra."  "And?"  "I don't smoke."  The six fables here are GA, "The Fox and the Lumberjack," DW, "The Duck and the Snake," MM, and "The Bear, the Monkey, and the Pig."  After "The Fox and the Lumberjack," Nacho stands over Tobi, flat on his face, and says "It was only a lovetap."  Tobi pronounces the moral: "No niegues con tus actos lo que pregonas con tus palabras."  At the beginning of DW, the dog scares the boys by "practicing the language of my ancestors," i.e., howling.  "The Duck and the Snake" is new to me and good.  The duck is praising himself for being of the water, land, and air.  The snake comes close and asks if he can swim like a fish.  No.  Can he run like a hare?  No.  Can he fly like an eagle?  No.  "You do everything by halves!"  Before MM, Tobi gives a clue to the whole series.  He has just fallen while carrying Nacho a glass of milk.  "When I learn to read, I will not need this anymore!"  Might the "this" be Nacho?  Favors for Nacho?  The bear knows he is a bad dancer when the pig applauds his dancing.  Chanti's rendition of the falling milk-jug on 37 is fine.  "Fun with fables" might be an apt subtitle for this series.  These cartoons and fables would engage a young reader.  Text and "ballooned" sayings in the illustrations complement each other in presenting the story.  The closing design has Tobi begging Nacho to come back, and the dog saying "What a character!"  

Nacho reads to Tobi from this book -- in this number, on a camping trip.  The six fables here are LM, "The Horse and the Wolf," MSA, "The Monkey," FS, and "The Crow and the Peacock."  A full-page cartoon of them precedes each fable and follows the last fable.  The latter applies the moral in the daily life of Nacho and Tobi.  Those preceding a fable often have a relation to the fable itself.  "La Mona" is new to me.  It begins with this proverb: "Although the monkey is dressed in silk, she remains a monkey."  Many follow the female monkey dressed in silk, but does she know where she is going?  Chanti's best effort here may be the scene in which the Miller and his son carry the ass (23).  They do so with great effort!  This burro likes it, and he is angered on the next page when he has to walk on his own.  "Fun with fables" might be an apt subtitle for this series.  These cartoons and fables would engage a young reader.  Text and "ballooned" sayings in the illustrations complement each other in presenting the story.

Nacho reads to Tobi from this book.  A full-page cartoon of them precedes each fable and follows the last fable.  The latter applies the moral in the daily life of Nacho and Tobi.  Those preceding a fable often have a relation to the fable itself.  Thus the first fable is mistakenly asked for by Tobi as "Androide y el león."  Of course he means AL.  Next is "La garza real," La Fontaine's "The Heron."  The fable is well illustrated by the brothers when the little Tobi encourages Nacho to blow his balloon ever bigger.  "Whoever tries to pursue much runs the risk of losing what he has."  The third fable turns the usual confrontation between mother and child crab into a whole community's way of walking.  The moralizing page is right on target here.  One of the swimming kids throws their dog out of the pool asking "How many times do I have to tell you not to swim!"  Tobi breaks a stick over his brother's head as a great introduction to BS.  Next a pig leaves his herd to lord it over sheep -- until a wolf attacks and he screams for help from his fellow pigs.  The moral pictures a dad being clutched by a woman and children: "They only embrace me when they see a spider!"  The sixth fable involves a rooster fight.  I learned at the end of this second book that I have acquired from the series that the older brother is Nacho.  "Fun with fables" might be an apt subtitle for this series.  These cartoons and fables would engage a young reader.  Text and "ballooned" sayings in the illustrations complement each other in presenting the story.

This landscape-formatted volume, found by chance on eBay, has helped me to discover a new series, soon to include its seventh member.  An older child reads to a younger from this book on a park bench, with their dog nearby.  A full-page cartoon of them precedes each fable and follows the last fable.  Those preceding a fable often have a relation to the fable itself.  Thus the first fable is about a flute.  In the cartoon, menor Tobi is blowing fluid through a straw at Mayor, and Mayor says to Tobi "That does not sounds like a flute, and besides you're spitting on me" (4).   "Fun with fables" might be an apt subtitle for this series.  These cartoons and fables would engage a young reader.  Text and "ballooned" sayings in the illustrations complement each other in presenting the story.  An additional full page at the end of each story states and applies the moral in the daily life of Mayor and Tobi.  At the end, for example, of "The Lamb and the Flautist Wolf," Tobi is distracting dad while he plays chess with Mayor.  Mayor switches chess pieces and says "Moraleja: Con ingenio se puede vencer al poderoso" (11).  New to me but quite Aesopic is "Los Dos Tordos" (13).  Father thrush recommends eating a grape to son thrush.  Son thrush has a better idea and leads father to pumpkins!  Mayor's smaller dog announces to a friend and his larger dog, who are laughing at him, "Hay que jusgar a las cosas por su calidad, no por su tamaño" (17).  Also new to me is the story of a butterfly and a snail (33).  The butterfly forgets that she as a caterpillar was the friend of the snail.  The book enjoys the kind of irony children enjoy in TV cartoons.  Thus, in the moral of this story, the man in the butterfly role warns Aesop to be careful with his morals.  Aesop's story of the old dog who can no longer hunt well has a similarly funny application.  Tobi asks bald grandpa to do several different things with him, hears "no" each time, and then suggests "Okay, let's talk before you become deaf" (31)!

This landscape-formatted volume, found by chance on eBay, has helped me to discover a new series, now complete in this collection through its seventh member.  The older Nacho reads to the younger Tobi from this book on a log in winter, with their dog nearby.  A full-page cartoon of them precedes each fable and another follows each.  Both regularly have a relation to the fable itself.  Thus the first fable, FWT, follows on the dog's comment -- as he buries his head in a hole in the log -- that he is a "perro rabon."  The full page following then has Nacho advising Tobi to give him the TV remote lest it burn his hand.  "Watch out for advice from those seeking their own advantage."  At the end of the next fable, "The Worker and His Sons," Nacho, playing with Tobi in the dirt, tells his mother that the greatest treasure is labor.  She responds that her two little treasures give her lots of work!  To apply the fable of the bats claiming at one time to be a bird at another a rodent, we see Tobi's father painting.  The boy wants to help.  "You're too little."  "I am not little.  I am big!"  "You could put the newspapers on the couch."  "I don't do that.  I am little."  "The Schoolboy and the Pedant" here is transformed into a story of a female teacher who, after lecturing the child, pulls him from the water and then demands "And what do you say?"  He tries to say "Thank you" but only spits a fountain of water onto her face!  The last fable is new to me: a group of musicians cannot get it right together and blame each other.  These cartoons and fables would engage a young reader.  Text and "ballooned" sayings in the illustrations complement each other in presenting the story.  The visual style includes remnants of the early pencil version of many cartoons.  The effect is good, I believe. This booklet continues to employ the kind of irony children enjoy in TV cartoons.