Yo, Aesop!: Get a Load of These Fables - Hardcover

"For years, Aesop's fables have been passed from person to person--sort of like the flu. With all that telling and retelling, however, a lot of the fun has been lost. And some of the ancient stories don't make much sense to modern readers. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to dust off some of Aesop's lessons and come up with brand-new fables for them." So states the introduction to Paul and his brother Marc Rosenthal's funny, smart-alecky book of fables, Yo, Aesop! You won't find "The Fox and the Grapes" here. In fact, the first fable--a story involving a pigeon and potato salad--is called "Feathers, Frisbees & Flying Salami." In "A Dog's Life," an old dog makes a big mistake: he moves in with a dreadful girl named Doris who wears pink sneakers and chews gum. The girl neglects him, and soon he is "a tangle of hair and fleas." Mainly fleas. When he finally isolates a flea, he is just about to bite it in half when the flea begs him to spare its life in exchange for a big favor, perhaps even a life-saving favor. "The dog roared with laughter. 'What're you gonna do ... become a veterinarian? Get me free tickets to a flea circus?'" He's so amused he lets the flea go, and the flea does end up saving the dog's hide, if not his life. The lesson? "Even a little friend can be a big help." Each modern fable ends with a brief commentary from an Aesopian stand-in, such as, "You call this a fable?" or "Back in ancient Greece, we didn't watch TV. We just sat around hoping that someday, someone would invent pizza." Fans of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales will rejoice in this zesty new collection of terrifically twisted tales. (Ages 7 to much, much older) --Karin Snelson

Grade 6 UpAThese nine fables are not just fractured, they're splintered, and the title and subtitle indicate the irreverent tone. At first glance, the large type and cartoon illustrations may indicate an advanced version of Jon Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man (Viking, 1992). However, what should be funny and clever is smart-alecky and sarcastic, lacking the whimsy and playfulness of Stinky. Each fable has a message (moral) written by "Aesop." For example, in "Bad Hare Day" two turtles race but the winner is a wolf inside a turtle suit. Message: "In my day, no one got confused and turned up in the wrong fable. What is it with you modern guys? If you ask me, it's all that TV everyone is always watching. Makes your brain go soft. Back in ancient Greece, we didn't watch TV. We just sat around hoping that someday, someone would invent pizza." With characters turning up in the wrong fables, the impertinent tone, and the nightclub humor that is dependent on knowing the original stories, one must question the audience for this book. These modernized versions have an adult sensibility, akin to slapstick without the humor. They might better pertain to Mad TV. Aesop might have said, "Yo, bros, why you dissin' my fables?"AJulie Cummins, New York Public Library
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.