TWO MORE MORAL TALES

by Mercer -- Illus. Mayer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1974

If not profoundly moral, these wordless fables at least are imaginative proofs of the truism that bears will be bears. . . as well as pigs, pigs. . . foxes, foxes. . . and eggs, soon enough, chicks. In the two strongest episodes a pair of pigs spruce up for a motorcar outing that ends at the local wallow and a bear, who had been quite pleased with his ragtag clothing, turns the tables on a well tailored goat who makes fun of him; all four (printed two to a volume in ""turnabout"" style -- that is, upside down from each other beginning at opposite covers) rely on Mayer's cleverly anthropomorphized animal caricatures. And they succeed because he matches their slight humorous content with an appropriately modest physical format. The visual whimsys are more to the point than that eternally gerplunking Frog. . . , and those morals -- admittedly more in line with folk wisdom than existential philosophy -- won't cause pre-readers any problems.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Four Winds

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1974

Categories: CHILDREN'S