TOLD AND RETOLD

A romp across the globe through Aesop’s fables.

In this chatty, friendly collection, Berry notes that versions of these stories have been “told and retold in many countries and different cultures.” She offers a version of “The Heron” from eastern North America, a version of “The Lion and the Mouse” from East Africa, a retelling of “The Ants and the Grasshopper” from East Asia, among others. The stories are short and sweet, but better than the neat retellings are the beautiful block-print illustrations, which evoke both the Grecian aesthetic of antiquity and the various other settings for the tales. Gorgeously crafted wordless pages between subsets of stories give readers a chance to pause and reflect, and with each advancing wordless page, the characters from the subsequent stories join the growing cast as they march happily through the landscape to join a tan-skinned Aesop under a tree. Younger readers will be relieved to see that even the most put-upon creatures—like the poor bee-stung bear from “The Bear and the Bees”—are actually doing just fine. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A vivid, charming take on these beloved fables.