Comments on: Aesop’s Fables with Introduction by G.K. Chesterton

By: tracy

tracy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:21:33 +0000

I have read a different version with my son I really liked your review and post:)

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:58:04 +0000

@Lightheaded: morals help discussion, but so does thinking about it. I’m not a teacher either, though, so I don’t know how it would work in a classroom. I’m just looking forward to sharing it with my son.
@Mrs S | Blue Archipelago: I’ll bet you have but it wasn’t labeled as such! So many of the stories have been retold by different names. They really are simply commentaries on human nature.
@Amanda: There are so many versions of Aesop out there! I was trying to find one and finally decided to go with the unabridged, most original I could find.
I love project gutenberg for public domain works! I’d highly recommend it!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:28:31 +0000

I wonder if I had the same illustrated version as you did. Mine had Moral:______ at the end as well. I think that it did help me when I was little because after I knew what I was looking for I didn’t need for the ending Moral to be spelled out. But it helped Thanks for the post!

By: Mrs S | Blue Archipelago

Mrs S | Blue Archipelago — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:31:50 +0000

Crikey I’ve never read Aesop either – what have I been reading all these years?? Morals are always good in stories – gives you something to think about and learn from – like the boy who cried wolf

By: Lightheaded

Lightheaded — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:51:12 +0000

I remember reading a lot of Aesop’s Fables when I was a kid. Either that or a lot of fables were used in class discussions too. But I agree with you on the point that there’s no single moral to a story. The thing is, I think as kids we were trained (one way or another, at least I believe I was) to choose the “correct” way; for example it is not good to lie as in the case of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. But it would be good to have a free discussion about it as well. Not that I’m condoning lying

As a kid I like the one on the fox and the grapes. Gee, I think that’s one of Aesop’s, the sour grapes story.

I somehow think that a moral is needed not to clear up the story but to have a takeoff point for discussion. Children in their formative years need an example; and while morals shouldn’t be spoon fed to them, I think it should also be out there and discussed. Even stories without any clear cut morals at all should be out there for discussion even. Then again I’m not a teacher and I don’t have kids

Gee, and thanks for pointing out the link to the entire tales. Oh, and I’m here from the Bookworms Carnival too!

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:36:56 +0000

@Alessandra: I was surprised that many of the morals weren’t spelled out. It made it refreshing.
@Tasses: It always did seem heavy-handed in those illustrated children’s books. I really felt that reading the unabridged “original” (ok 1912 translation) showed that he didn’t intend them to be totally didactic but rather more illustrative of human nature. I liked them!

By: Tasses

Tasses — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:57:31 +0000

I hold some stereotypes about Aesop’s Fables. I feel they are heavy handed. When kids feel that you’re preaching to them, they turn off. I’ve never used Aesop in the classroom for this reason, but your post made me reconsider my stereotyping!

(jumped here from Bookworms Carnival)

By: Alessandra

Alessandra — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:27:20 +0000

I remember reading some od Aesop’s fables in primary school. Our teacher made us work out the morals for ourselves and then we discussed them in class–I think this would be a good exercise.

Of course, morals aren’t strictly necessary, but I think they do help the kids to understand the stories better.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:30:34 +0000

@Becky: I’d love to know what particularly you found interesting!

By: Becky

Becky — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:47:34 +0000

What an interesting post

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:31:53 +0000

@Nymeth:

That’s what I enjoyed so much about these: having to think and question to determine the “moral”!

By: Nymeth

Nymeth — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:24:44 +0000

I haven’t read Aesop yet, but I plan to. Lovely post, Rebecca.

I don’t think children’s stories necessarily need to have a moral or to have it spelled out. I suspect that stories might be more powerful if they make children think and question things instead of just handing them a meaning or conclusion.

Fables are animal stories, yes, but there are, for example, a few Grimms fairy tales that are solely about animals too, like Cat and Mouse in Partnership or The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids.