Creighton University

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  The art is more stylized than in the other booklets of this series so far.  I find two great moments in the text.  Fox says "You're pretty!"  Crow thinks "I am!"  Fox then exclaims "What beautiful feathers!"  Crow thinks "They are!"  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in England in 2007.  This is the first American edition. 

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  The text offers a good explanation of the originating event: "Fox loved playing tricks."  The art continues Martínez' stylized approach.  Some of the best illustrations are the three of Stork trying to get the soup from the wide bowl.  Stork has a wonderful facial expression as Fox pours Stork's soup into his own bowl.    "Always be kind to your friends," said Stork, "and they will be kind to you."  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in England in 2007.  This is the first American edition.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple, in fact wonderfully simple in the present tense.  It starts "Grasshopper sings in the sun.  Ant works."  One pair of pages has the two in dialogue: "I need food for the winter."  "But it's summer!"  Come winter, Ant says, without being asked, "Come inside."  Grasshopper, warm inside, vows "Next summer I'll work too."  Grasshopper's red and white stripes are attractive!  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in England in 2008.  This is the first American edition.

This hardbound copy duplicates is one of a boxed set of 30 paperbound fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple, in fact wonderfully simple in the present tense.  It starts "Grasshopper sings in the sun.  Ant works."  One pair of pages has the two in dialogue: "I need food for the winter."  "But it's summer!"  Come winter, Ant says, without being asked, "Come inside."  Grasshopper, warm inside, vows "Next summer I'll work too."  Grasshopper's red and white stripes are attractive!  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in England in 2008.  This is the first American edition.  This hardbound copy even has a placemark ribbon!

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This 32 page booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  The best visual and textual moment comes on 11, when the smiling lion says "You're too small to save anyone!"  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in England in 2008. 

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This 32 page booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  Ned helps a fairy and gets three wishes.  He runs home to tell wife Nat.  He wishes for a sausage.  When she complains, he wishes it was on the end of her nose.  She is angry and tells him to do something.  He does.  He wishes the sausage off of her nose.  Nat: "Now we have no wishes."  Ned: "But we do have a sausage!"  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in England in 2009.  This is the first American edition.  I myself would not be inclined to categorize this story as a fable.  I am, however, happy to include it as a member of this boxed set labeled "Fables."

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This 32 page booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  "Dog" comes to a river and thinks that the other dog has a bigger bone.  He growls, still clenching his bone, before he barks.  Dog's last reflection is "I'm so silly!"  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  It is a "pourquoi" story telling how the elephant got his trunk.  Young Elephant asks what Crocodile eats for dinner and is told not to ask -- until he asks Crocodile.  The answer is "Elephants!"  Crocodile then catches young Elephant by the nose.  After a tug-of-war, Crocodile lets go, but Elephant's nose has stretched.  His elongated trunk proves useful.  Asked about it by his family, he answers "Crocodile gave it to me."  The other elephants then follow suit and get long noses.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  It is a "pourquoi" story telling how the rhino got his rough, baggy skin.  Rhino had bad manners.  He once stole a cake from a man.  The man got revenge when Rhino took off his skin and went for a swim, for the man put crumbs into the skin left on the shore.  Rhino put it on and scratched, rolled, and rubbed.  His skin then got caught on a tree, and he lost his buttons.  He could no longer remove his skin.  "Now Rhino has baggy skin and a bad temper and the man has a smile."  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  It is a "pourquoi" story telling how the whale got his throat.  A clever fish suggests to omnivorous Whale that he eat a man.  He does, and the man proceeds to jump and bump and thump inside Whale's belly.  While tormented Whale is bringing the man to land, the latter cuts up his raft and makes a "cross-cross shape."  He puts this grid in Whale's throat and jumps out.  "Now Whale can only swallow tiny things."  The liveliest illustrations may be those of the man jumping and bumping and thumping in Whale's belly.  There is a page "About Whales," and then the booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  It is a "pourquoi" story telling how the camel got his hump.  The cover also presents it as one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.  When the world was new, there was lots of work to do, but grumpy Camel did not want to help.  He only answered "Humph!" to the other animals' requests.  The other animals ask a magic Genie to make Camel help, but Genie gets the same response.  He punishes Camel by giving him his "humph."  It stores food so that Camel does not have to stop work for lunch.  Camel now works hard but he is still grumpy!  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  It is a "pourquoi" story telling how the leopard got his spots.  In the beginning, all the animals had light, sandy skin.  Giraffe and zebra went into the forest and, in the dark, developed dark patches and hid in the shadows.  The man and Leopard bump into them in the dark and ask how they developed the patches.  "Watch!"  They take a few steps and then vanish.  The man quickly learns how he can use the shadows.  "What about me?" asks Leopard.  The man uses his hand to make fingerprints that help Leopard to camouflage.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  It is a "pourquoi" story.  The first kangaroo was short, stumpy, and grumpy.  He kept importuning the gods "Make me different!"  Finally, the gods sent a wild dog after him.  When the kangaroo arrived at a river and could not swim, he jumped and made it!  Then he kept on jumping, and his legs grew stronger and his tail grew longer.  Kangaroos today are still jumpers.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple.  It is a "pourquoi" story telling how the crab got his claws.  The cover also presents it as "A Just So Story by Rudyard Kipling."  Crab was huge and non-compliant to the Wise Man.  Crab splashed about creating floods and turning the sea to mud.  The Wise Man ordered "Stop playing with the sea!" but Crab shouted "No!"  Then the Wise Man reduced Crab's size.  When Crab asked how he could eat, a girl offered him her scissors, and now all crabs have scissor claws.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  It modifies the Panchatantra story of "regulated sacrifice" to make it a one-time story.  Clever Rabbit offers himself to the hungry lion and uses the standard ploy: that a "great big lion" stopped him from coming sooner.  Clever Rabbit here takes him to a deep, wide river.  When the lion jumps in, the river sweeps him away.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  It was first published in the United Kingdom in 2007.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  The back describes this pourquoi story as "based on a folktale from India."  There were problems back when elephants could fly.  They made a lot of noise, and they smashed trees and houses.  The gods decided that they needed to be stopped.  So they invited them to a grand feast.  When the stuffed elephants slept, the gods took away their wings and gave them to peacocks and banana trees.  Elephants have never flown since then.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in the UK in 2007.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  As the back cover says, "Brer Fox thinks he has the perfect plan to stop Brer Rabbit once and for all."  A first key moment in this traditional story comes when the trapped Brer Rabbit invites Brer Fox to cook him all sorts of ways but pleads "Don't throw me in the blackberry bush!"  A second moment comes when Brer Rabbit in the bush says "I was born in the blackberry bush!"  Lively illustrations!  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  First published in the UK in 2008.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  As the back cover says, "nothing can keep Brer Rabbit down for long."  Brer Rabbit is being chased by Brer Fox when he jumps into the bucket in a well.  Down he goes.  When Brer Fox finds him, Brer Rabbit claims that he is fishing -- fishing, in fact, very successfully.  Forgetting about Brer Rabbit and concentrating rather on fish,  Brer Fox turns the handle to bring the bucket up.  "Where are the fish?"  "In the river," replies Brer Rabbit with a laugh.  "It took Brer Fox a very long time to climb out."  Lively illustrations!  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  Clever Rabbit is surrounded by wolves eager to eat him.  He offers to dance for them, and soon he has them joining in.  First they tap their feet, and then they move forward, and then they twirl -- until they are dizzy.  Clever rabbit escapes.  The illustrations may be at their best showing the dizzy wolves.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.  It was first published in the United Kingdom in 2008.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  The back cover identifies it as an old folk tale from Namibia.  The story's ending surprised me.  A greedy baboon claimed a pond selfishly as his own and drove away all other animals.  Only the first zebra resisted.  The baboon built a fire to keep others away.  The zebra charged the baboon and upset both him and the fire.  The sticks of the fire marked the zebra, and the baboon landed with his bottom on the fire.  So zebras have stripes and baboons have red bottoms!  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  The back cover identifies it as a traditional tale.  Each month, the King with donkey ears jails the servant who cuts his hair that month.  He believes that no one besides these servants knows.  Meg, next servant in line, pleads to let her continue to care for her mother.  She goes free, but she has to tell the secret!  She tells a tree, which becomes a harp, which reveals the secret.  The king's best friend reassures him that everybody knows and no one minds.  The artists' best work in lively depictions is often the minor characters around the edges.  This story is told of Midas in Greek mythology.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  "Based on a fable by Aesop."  This telling of the fable takes an unusual turn.  The tortoise offers his apples and his log as payment for the eagle to take him up in the sky.  Up in the air, the tortoise looks down, gets dizzy, and asks to be taken back down.  The kindly eagle takes him back and says "You're not made for flying.  Be happy."  The tortoise smiles, sits on his log, and eats his apples.  He no longer wants to fly.  This tortoise has an outsized and stylized head.  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the second level.  The back cover identifies it as a Native American folk tale.  Bear originally had a large and beautiful tail.  He did not like it but the other animals admired it.  Fox felt envious because it was more beautiful than his own tail.  He tricked Bear into the well-known fable ploy of ice-fishing with his tail.  Half-frozen Bear sneezed, pulled away from his tail, looked at his new short tail, and liked it.  This happy ending is rather unusual for a fable!  The booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  The story has a lovely repeated statement: "Run, run, as fast as you can.  You can't catch me.  I'm the gingerbread man!"  That is said in response to the repeated cries of "Stop!" from characters who want to eat him.  He comes to a river and takes a ride on a fox, who gradually lures him to his nose.  Then, quarter by quarter, with four snaps and a gulp, the gingerbread man is eaten.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  "Based on the fable by Aesop."  After an engaging telling, this version offers four pages on Aesop and fables.  Tom and Elena go from poor to rich and back to poor again.  "Don't be greedy or you might lose everything."

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  The back cover describes it as "a very old story.  It was first written down around two hundred years ago, but people were telling it to each other long before then."  Overwater does a fine job of having the wolf meet disaster in his earliest attempts at attacking Pinky, Percy, and Poppy.  The first runs to the second when the wolf blows his straw house in, and both run to Poppy's brick house when the wolf blows Percy's stick house in.  When the frustrated wolf jumps down Poppy's chimney, he lands in the cooking pot and the three put the lid on.  "And that was the end of the Big Bad Wolf."  The illustrations are wonderfully lively!

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  "Based on the fable by Aesop."  As is usual in this collection, the first two pages introduce the characters, starting with Sam and concluding with "and (maybe) a wolf."  After the first supposed joke, "the villagers were angry, but Sam just laughed."  "That was funny," he says.  "No it wasn't" comes the answer.  At the second "joke," some people didn't believe him, "but most ran up the hill to see."  At the third, most did not believe, but a few ran up the hill.  The real wolf kills some sheep, and the others run away.  Sam asks "Why didn't you believe me?"  "You always told lies before."  "Never again," Sam says.  The Gordons' illustrations are again engaging.  The special emphasis on eyes enlivens their work!  After the story, there are four pages on this story, Aesop, and fables.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  A "jolly classic by the Brothers Grimm."  Unlike his strong brother Ronald and his handsome brother Donald, Billy responds generously when asked by a little man to share his lunch.  His reward turns out to be a golden goose.  At least five characters get stuck to the goose and then to each other.  When they stop at a castle, they cause the otherwise unsmiling princess to laugh, and the king invites Billy to marry her on the spot.  At the wedding, the little man appears and releases the victims from sticking.  With this story's magic, its elflike little man, and its multiple phases, I am hard pressed to see why it is included in a collection of "fables."  The Gordons' illustrations are again engaging.  The special emphasis on eyes enlivens their work!  First published in the UK in 2008.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  The back cover describes the story as a "delightful folktale from Japan."  As is frequent in the versions in this series, the first two pages lay out the characters,  here Father Mouse, Mother Mouse, Miss Mouse, the sun, a cloud, the wind, a wall, and a handsome young mouse.  A great moment in the story arrives when "one day Miss Mouse wasn't so little anymore."  The question posed to the sun, the first candidate for marriage to Miss Mouse, is "You are more powerful than anyone in the world, aren't you?"  "Oh, no, I don't think so."  The question and the answer are repeated with each of the candidates.  On their journey, Mother Mouse serves crumbs for breakfast: what a lovely touch!  The wall says that he can feel a little mouse nibbling him to dust.  "The sun and the cloud and the wind all came to the wedding.  But not at once."  Charming illustrations!  First published in the UK in 2008.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  The back cover describes this as "a story from Indonesia."  This is a happy-ending story of good deception.  At each of the three meal times, Tiger approaches Little Deer at the river and sees him as dinner.  Little Deer claims to be guarding something for the king: pudding that turns out to be mud; a belt that turns out to be a snake; and a drum that turns out to be a wasps' nest.  In the end, Tiger promises never to attack Little Deer again, and the latter smiles.

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 5" x 7¾".  This booklet is on the third level, 48 pages in length.  Tom has early adventures and lands at King Arthur's court, where he is knighted.  Pleasing illustrations have Tom riding a mouse, wearing his helmet, and carrying his shield.  With this story's use of Merlin, the incredible Tom, and the multiple adventures, I am hard pressed to see why it is included in a collection of "fables."  The story ends with Tom "fine" as he goes back from a family visit to rejoin the court.