“Alaskan landscape painter and picture-book artist Jim Fowler illustrates 12 fables credited to Aesop, choosing Arctic animals as the characters and Arctic landscapes as the settings… Susi Gregg Fowler identifies the source fable for each story in this appealing book and ends each selection in the traditional way, with a stated moral. The writing has a storyteller’s sense of pace and a colloquial manner of telling, and facing each text page is a large illustration, which helps bring the stories and their distinctive settings to life. A good addition to classroom units on fables or the Arctic, this attractive book offers a fresh interpretation of timeless tales.”
Booklist Online
“The old tales of Aesop are given new life in this colorful picture book, telling old fables such as ‘The Lion and the Hare’ and ‘The Fox and the Crow,’ but with an Alaskan twist.
Anchorage Daily News
“Big, broadly brushed illustrations place the feathered or shaggy actors in nearly treeless but far from barren settings, creating a luxuriant sense of place… A distinctive, respectful selection from the Aesopian canon.”
Kirkus Reviews
“In Arctic Aesop’s Fables: Twelve Retold Tales, Juneau writer Susi Gregg Fowler and her husband, artist Jim Fowler, have transformed a dozen traditional Aesop’s tales into a beautifully rendered picture book of fables set in Arctic and sub-Arctic landscapes… With so much to talk about and explore visually, this book is made for sharing, either one-on-one or with groups of children in a story time or teaching setting. Northern children will recognize familiar animals and landscapes. Children from other environments will be intrigued and interested to learn more about Arctic wildlife. The succinct morals provide an opportunity to discuss values and the consequences of various behaviors. A table of contents links the stories to their source fables, which is not only good scholarship but a perfect invitation for inquiring minds to look up the Aesop versions for comparison. From there it’s a simple segue into telling or writing their own animal fables. Fables are an ancient and amazingly durable form of teaching story. It’s a pleasure to see them reworked so imaginatively and yet set accurately within the natural world.”
Kid Lit North
“Aesop’s Fables have always been excellent tales to help children learn important morals and ‘rules’ of life without realizing they are actually learning anything. This book is an excellent adaption of twelve of the hundreds of fables attributed to Aesop. By using native animals from the Great Northern Tundra, and the Arctic landscape and culture, you not only to get to enjoy the tale, but you can experience a little of what Alaska is like. The illustrations are excellent renderings that bring the landscape to life and help to visualize the story.”
4th Grade Reading
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