© Award Publications Limited 1983
Spring House, Spring Place
London NW5, England
Third Impression 1985
Printed in Hungary
My Big Book of Favourite Tales is a vintage picture book of Aesop Fables published by Award as part of its Storytime Library series in the 1980s.
The cover is yellow front and back, the front cover showing a wide range of animals from the stories within the collection, and the back cover showing a circular image taken directly from interior illustrations for "The Ant and the Grasshopper".
The endpapers are the same as those used for the Brer Rabbit stories in the Storytime Library series – that is, showing images of Brer Rabbit and other characters from those stories, along with English woodland animals like red squirrels, a great tit, and harvest mice.
The front loose endpaper is a combined bookplate and copyright page and is also Brer Rabbit themed, showing Brer Rabbit painting a book where children can write their name under "This book belongs to me". Brer Fox rests against the book cover, sleeping, and two red squirrels look on. (Note: this is not the same as any of the bookplates used in the three Brer Rabbit books in the Storytime Library series).
The title page shows a collection of woodland animals, some in clothes, only two characters clearly linked to the stories within, those being the tortoise with his fluffy red hat, and the mouse who is dressed almost identically to a mouse in the final story.
In keeping with other books in this series, the illustrations show characters in a British woodland.
Author and contents
No author is attributed but it is highly likely that the fables were written by Rene Cloke, as we know that she wrote stories (e.g. Tales of Oaktree Wood), and that she wasn't attributed for other retellings she wrote at the initial time of publication alongside her illustrations (e.g. Brer Rabbit). Perhaps at that time it wasn't considered appropriate to claim authorship for retold stories?
This collection contains retellings of 11 Aesop's fables:
- The Dog, The Cock, and the Fox
- The Fox and the Grapes
- The Lion and the Mouse
- The Cock and the Jewel
- The Wolf and the Goat
- The Grasshopper and the Ant
- The Dog and His Bone
- The Hare and the Tortoise
- The Stag at the Pool
- The Fox and the Crow
- The Mice in Council
Most of the stories are short enough to be told and illustrated on a single page. "The Cock and the Jewel" and "The Wolf and the Goat" are so short they share a single page. "The Dog and His Bone" takes place over three pages, "The Hare the Tortoise" over four pages, and "The Fox and the Crow" over two pages.
The source material for these retold fables is unclear. There were hundreds of previous publications of Aesop's fables in English in different collections before this collection was published, and we can't know without a great deal of research which of these the author drew upon (if they weren't translating from a Greek or Latin edition). I therefore haven't made much of an attempt to draw any comparison with other examples of the fables, but I have outlined the basic plot of each and described the illustrations.
One thing to note is that while children's versions of Aesop's fables often state a moral at the end, earlier Greek and Latin traditions didn't do this – and neither does this collection, on the whole. In a few places where an end moral does appear, it's inserted into dialogue or character thought.
The Dog, The Cock, and the Fox
This is fable 252 in the Perry Index.*
The story tells us that "A dog and a cock agreed to make their home together". At night the cock roosted in the branches and the dog slept in the hollow trunk. A fox attempted to get the cock to "come down and have a chat" (i.e. come down and become a snack) and the cock told him "Certainly...just knock on the trunk and wake my friend who will let you in." The fox was then killed by the dog.
The illustrations show a happy fox looking up at a happy cock. The tree that the cock and the dog share also has a happy face. The dog is an old English hound dog, sleeping, and several red squirrels scamper up and down the tree. The tree appears to be a hawthorn (with red haws) and its roots are carpeted with mushrooms.
No moral is shared, leaving the reader to infer their own, and I figured it meant something like 'It's helpful to work together to protect each other', valuing friendship and cooperation, but was left wondering what the dog got out of the deal. I've seen other interpretations of the tale as showing wisdom or cleverness, but one I hadn't thought of was the idea that 'trickery begets trickery' or 'those who deceive can expect to be deceived', which certainly also works as well.
The Fox and the Grapes
This is fable 15 in the Perry Index.*
A hungry fox thinks some grapes look delicious, but when, after multiple tries, he can't reach them, "At last he lost his temper and walked away", telling himself they were probably sour.
Cloke illustrates a hungry fox leaping (and missing) a bunch of ripe purple grapes then sauntering away nonchalantly past field bindweed while a frog and mouse (or vole) look on.
Its number in the index indicates this is one of the oldest collected fables, and its certainly one that has entered the English language outside of its story boundaries, appearing as an idiom in everyday speech – "sour grapes".
The Lion and the Mouse
This sounded so stupid that the lion laughed and let the mouse go.
The Cock and the Jewel
This is fable 503 in the Perry Index.*
A cock is scratching to find something to eat when he finds a jewel, recognising it as very fine but of no worth to him as he'd rather have a grain of corn.
To me this story is a great metaphor for how money is worthless if it can't provide the basics of life, but there are certainly many quite different interpretations of this fable.
In the illustrations, the cock appears to be a Wheaten Standard Old English breed with a fine emerald breast and tail, and is paired with a Buff Orpington yellow hen perched on a fencepost. The jewel appears to be a garnet brooch, very similar to a piece of costume jewellery often worn by my English grandmother!
The Wolf and the Goat
This is fable 157 in the Perry Index.*
A "sly wolf" suggests a goat should come down from its rocks to eat "where the grass is greener" but the goat "felt safer up on the rocks" and wisely recognises that the wolf would eat it, concluding "I would rather eat the poorer grass in safety".
Cloke's illustrations are lovely – a black and white goat looks down on a lush green world where the grey wolf stands amongst blue bells and wild yellow primroses.
The Grasshopper and the Ant
This is fable 373 in the Perry Index.*
In this fable the grasshopper laughs that the busy ant is not enjoying life in the summer, and the ant warns that he'll be sorry in the winter when he has no food. This comes to pass, and the grasshopper "was very sorry for himself" and begged for a grain of corn.
"You played and sang all the summer," answered the ant, "now you can dance," and she rather unkindly slammed the door.
The ending here is interesting as it appears transitional, in that most traditional versions of this fable leave the grasshopper to starve, but most modern retellings in children's books have the ant showing compassion, changing the moral message to one of kindness. The ant still leaves the grasshopper to starve here, but the telling highlights the unkindness of the ant.
Cloke's illustrations are more cartoonish than usual for this fable, showing a grasshopper with banjo and straw hat and a black ant wearing the working clothes and mob cap of a traditional English maid.
In summer there is a yellow chrysanthemum in the grasshopper's straw hat and a jaunty blue ribbon tied at the end of his banjo. The maid carries a sack and walks beneath vibrant scarlet pimpernels.
In the winter the ant's green door is opened to a blowy autumn leaves but the light within shines golden and warm, while the grasshopper cries, his straw hat soaked and flower gone to seed, his jaunty ribbon wet and ragged.
The Dog and His Bone
This is fable 133 in the Perry Index, better known as "The Dog and Its Reflection" or "The Dog and Its Shadow".*
This retelling is a bit different from the others in this collection, in that the animal figure is given a name – Toby – and the setting and language is clearly late twentieth century Britain, beginning with: "Toby had been given a lovely meaty bone by a friendly butcher." Other animals comment on Toby's meal in this retelling, with some rabbits declaring it "a strange thing to eat" compared with their preferred lettuce or radishes, and a frog calling it "a funny meal" compared with their preferred worms or insects.
While crossing a bridge over the river Toby thinks he sees another dog with a bigger bone and "greedy Toby" thinks he can snatch it from other dog, so leaps into the river, realising too late that what he saw was only his reflection.
"Now I haven't got either bone," he whimpered as he scrambled out of the river.
In the illustrations, Toby appears to be a little Scottish dog, probably a Cairn terrier. He is shown wearing a red dog jacket with white buttons, and an English village appears in the background, featuring cottages with whitewashed walls, thick cottage-paned windows, and one thatched roof. Rabbits with hats are nearby in a stand of oats and cornflowers (blue bachelors buttons), and the river shows yellow flag iris, a common frog and a kingfisher.
The Hare and the Tortoise
This is fable 226 in the Perry Index.*
The telling of this fable is much longer than the others (excluding Toby's story above), and introduces more animal figures than this story typically has.
The story begins when the Hare "jeered" at the Tortoise, who "tired of being teased" grows angry and suggests a race. "Their friends marked out a distance across the field and through the wood." The different animals all have opinions on what will happen – the Squirrel complaining it won't be very exciting as "Hare is sure to win", the Rabbits suggesting the Tortoise will get to the end by next week, and the Mice thinking it all a "big joke".
"Old Owl started off the two runners with a loud "Hoot-toot"" (reminiscent of the horn of modern races). Hare is in the lead until he decides to take a rest in the wood. When he wakes and sees no sign of Tortoise he still thinks himself in the lead until he reaches the "winning post" and is "very annoyed" to hear everyone cheering Tortoise. The very familiar moral is maintained, as the Tortoise says "Slow and steady wins the race".
The Stag at the Pool
This is fable 74 in the Perry Index.*
In this story, a stag admires his antlers as he drinks from a pool but regrets his thin legs. However, when a lion attacks him, his thin legs help him escape but his antlers get stuck in a tree and lead to his demise.
Cloke presents a forest in autumn, and a lion watching from a distance, showing the stag first at the pool and next with its antlers trapped, but eschewing the bloodiness of the lion's attack, which keeps these illustrations family-friendly.
The Fox and the Crow
This is fable 124 in the Perry Index.*
In this story a fox eyes up "a large piece of cheese" that a Crow is eating and thinks he must use his "wits" to get it, since he can't climb trees. He flatters the crow's appearance and says he expects its voice is just as beautiful.
The silly crow felt very flattered and, opening his beak, he gave a loud ugly – "Caw!"
The fox gobbles up the cheese that is dropped and declares the voice is fine but the crow is "not very clever". It's an interesting disparity, as although the fox appears to appreciate the crow's "fine voice", the narrator describes it as "ugly", which increases the 'silliness' of the crow in falling for such flattery.
Cloke's illustrations for this story are beautiful – it is full spring, the sky is a pale blue, the meadow is a sweet green and the trees and flowers are blooming. The crow perches in a blossoming fruit tree, and bluebells, wild primroses, and cuckoo flowers sprout in the green grass. The crow is very handsome with its blue-green tinged black feathers, and the fox is a dark orange-black. Other small woodland animals abound.
The Mice in Council
This is fable 613 in the Perry Index* and is also known as "Belling the Cat".
"The Mice were very worried" as the Cat was proving increasingly dangerous. They call a council but have no solutions, until a young mouse "proudly" suggests they tie a bell around the cat's neck. Everyone agrees it's a "splendid idea" until the oldest mouse asks who is going to put the bell on the cat.
In the illustration, the mice appear to be in a wooden hall, and all are dressed in working class rural clothes. The old mouse wears spectacles and a red scarf and carries a cane.
Appearing so late in the index indicates that this is likely not a fable from Aesop, and it appears it wasn't recorded until the middle ages. The idea of having a small bell to put on the cat's neck also feels more modern to me – although apparently pottery bells were used to track grazing animals since 1000BC in Asia!
I find the moral of this story a little harder to parse, as well, although I think we've all experienced how what seems like great ideas might be hard to actually implement. Does that mean we shouldn't share those ideas at all? The emphasis on the misplaced pride of the young mouse in putting the idea forward and the wisdom of the old mouse in pointing out the impracticality would seem to suggest so.
Summary
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