POP-UP AESOP

Five fables, four of them not the usual chestnuts, get modern-sounding retellings—“A wolf had worked up a big appetite and was looking for a snack. . . . ”—further enlivened by an array of moving eyes, nodding heads, figures that leap up as the spread opens and morals on pull-out slides. Brown conveys the generally cheery spirit here with busy, modernist scenes featuring loud colors, flat perspectives and purple animals. Introduced by a grandfatherly-looking Aesop in sandals and eyeglasses, and closing with a spinner that invites children to select animals and morals to create fables of their own, this makes a refreshing, unconventional introduction to these ancient tales, which all too often sound stodgy to modern ears. (Folktales. 5-8)