A collection of animal fables told by the Greek slave Aesop.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Original Fables of La Fontaine" (Rendered into English Prose by Fredk. Colin Tilney) by Jean de La Fontaine. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Children and adults alike will delight in reading aloud these enduring and enchantingly told stories, richly illustrated and fabulously reimagined by award-winning artist Scott Gustafson. Stories include “The Little Red Hen,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Ugly Duckling,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

Revive your childhood wonder and fascination with the most exquisitely illustrated edition of Aesop’s Fables —featuring breathtaking original artwork by #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Charles Santore! Captivating the hearts and minds of kids and adults for generations, Aesop, a former Greek slave, developed simple and meaningful adventures featuring animals or insects to teach a moral standard or lesson for living. The most well-known and well loved of Aesop's fables are included here: - The Hare and the Tortoise - The Lion and the Mouse - The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse - The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing This Classic Edition: - Is great for children ages 4 - 8 - Perfect for family read-alouds or story at bedtime - Lavish illustrations by renowned, New York Times #1 Bestselling artist Charles Santore, the critically-acclaimed illustrator of multiple classic tales, including The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Classic Tale of Peter Rabbit, and The Night Before Christmas - Makes a great holiday, Advent, or Christmas gift Charles Santore’s work has been widely exhibited in museums and celebrated with recognitions such as the prestigious Hamilton King Award, the Society of Illustrators Award of Excellence, and the Original Art 2000 Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators. He is best known for his luminous interpretations of classic children’s stories, including The Little Mermaid, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Snow White, and The Wizard of Oz.

Fables and Fabulists : Ancient and Modern The Fable or Apologue has been variously defined by different writers. Mr. Walter Pater, paraphrasing Plato's definition, says that 'fables are medicinable lies or fictions, with a provisional or economized truth in them, set forth under such terms as simple souls can best receive.' The sophist Aphthonius, taking the same view, defines[3] the fable as 'a false discourse resembling truth.' The harshness of both these definitions is scarcely relieved by their quaintness. To assert that the fable is a lie or a falsehood does not fairly represent the fact. A lie is spoken with intent to deceive. A fable, in its relation, can bear no such construction, however exaggerated in its terms or fictitious in its characters. The meanest comprehension is capable of grasping the humour of the situation it creates. Even the moral that lurks in the narration is often clear to minds the most obtuse. This is at least true of the best fables. Dr. Johnson, in his 'Life of Gay,' remarks that 'A fable or epilogue seems to be, in its genuine state, a narrative in which beings irrational, and sometimes inanimate—quod arbores loquantur, non tantum feræ—are, for the purpose of moral instruction, feigned to act and speak with human interests and passions.' Dodsley says that ''tis the very essence of a fable to convey some moral or useful truth beneath the shadow of an allegory.' Boothby defines the[4] fable as 'a maxim for the use of common life, exemplified in a short action, in which the inhabitants of the visible world are made the moral agents.' G. Moir Bussey states that 'the object of the author is to convey some moral truth to the reader or auditor, without usurping the province of the professed lecturer or pedant. The lesson must therefore be conveyed in an agreeable form, and so that the moralist himself may be as little prominent as possible.' Mr. Joseph Jacobs says that 'the beast fable may be defined as a short humorous allegorical tale, in which animals act in such a way as to illustrate a simple moral truth or inculcate a wise maxim.' These various definitions or descriptions apply more especially to the Æsopian fable (and it is with this that we are dealing at present), which is par excellence the model of this class of composition. Steele declares that 'the virtue which we gather from a fable or an allegory is like the health we get by hunting, as we are engaged in an agreeable pursuit that draws us on with pleasure, and makes us insensible of the fatigues that accompany it.' This is applied to the longer fable or epic, such as the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' of Homer, or the[5] 'Faerie Queen' of Spenser, rather than to the fable as the term is generally understood, otherwise the simile is somewhat inflated. One more definition may be attempted: The Æsopian fable or apologue is a short story, either fictitious or true, generally fictitious, calculated to convey instruction, advice or reproof, in an interesting form, impressing its lesson on the mind more deeply than a mere didactic piece of counsel or admonition is capable of doing. We say a short story, because if the narration is spun out to a considerable length it ceases to be a true fable in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and becomes a tale, such, for example, as a fairy tale. Now, a fairy or other fanciful tale usually or invariably contains some romance and much improbability; it often deals largely in the superstitious, and it is not necessarily the vehicle for conveying a moral. The very opposite holds good of a fable. Although animals are usually the actors in the fable, there is an air of naturalness in their assumed speech and actions. The story may be either highly imaginative or baldly matter-of-fact, but it never wanders beyond the range of intuitive (as opposed to actual or natural) experience, and it always contains a moral. In a word, a fable is, or ought to be, the very quintessence of common sense and wise counsel couched in brief narrative form. It partakes somewhat of the[6] character of a parable, though it can hardly be described as a parable, because this is more sedate in character, has human beings as its actors, and is usually based on an actual occurrence. Though parables are not fables in the strict and limited meaning of the term, they bear a close family relationship to them. Parables may be defined as stories in allegorical dress. The Scriptures, both old and new, abound with them. The most beautiful example in the Old Testament is that of Nathan and the ewe lamb, in which David the King is made his own accuser. This was a favourite mode of conveying instruction and reproof employed by our Lord. Christ often 'spake in parables'; and with what feelings of reverential awe must we regard the parables of the Gospels, coming as they did from the lips of our Saviour!

The Fables by Jean de La Fontaine are considered classics of French literature. Collecting fables from a variety of sources, La Fontaine then adapted them into verse. Consisting of twelve books and 239 fables in all, these were originally aimed at adults, but have since been taught to children as a way to educate them in morals. At times they have been mixed in with the fables of Aesop. The sources for the fables are wide ranging, from Aesop to Boccaccio, from Babrius to Machiavelli - even drawing at times from ancient Indian collections of tales. Full chapter list. № 72 in Anne Haight's List of Banned Books.

Educational resource for teachers, parents and kids!

Retellings of twenty-one classic Aesop fables, including "The Hare and the Tortoise" and "Belling the Cat, " in updated language.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.