Gracing 61 fables from Aesop, or at least in the Aesopian tradition, Pinkney’s watercolors display both masterful draftsmanship and an uncommonly keen eye for natural detail. In these oversized portraits, every tuft, feather, and whisker on his animals look right and real—as do the hats and scarves that many of them sport, their expressive body language, and the clever or foolish looks on the faces of his human characters. Though some of the morals are moot (“Notoriety is not fame”) or may need explaining to younger readers (“Pride goes before a fall”), the stories themselves are timelessly clear and pithy, retold in formal, but never stiff, prose. Pinkney has added plenty of less familiar episodes to the usual chestnuts, making this not only at least as handsome as Doris Orgel’s The Lion and the Mouse, and Other Aesop’s Fables, illustrated by Bert Kitchen (p. 1361), but far more extensive. Whether Aesop is a complete stranger to them or an old friend, young readers will be enthralled by this eye-opening, and jaw-dropping, achievement. A masterpiece. (Fables. 5-10)
