Les Fables de La Fontaine: Un livre-théâtre avec de magnifiques illustrations réalisées en papiers découpés

Abstract

I first saw this book in Paris the night before returning home from Europe in 2016. With great regret I passed it up, since my suitcases were already bulging. I was delighted then to see it offered as a boxed set with the original partner edition from 2011. The box itself is noteworthy. It is numbered -- #605 of 1000 -- and dated 2015. The box has a three-dimensional image on its front: set in from the surrounding trees, the fox looks up at the crow with cheese in his beak. The eight fables in this volume are happily not described, like those in the first volume, as "the eight that cannot be overlooked." They are, however, both worthy and excellently executed. My favorites are FG, seen from above, and MM, with a huge splash of milk emanating from the pitcher. In WL, the lamb holds a cup in his hand at river's edge. The others include "Two Mules"; OR; GGE; "Wolf, Goat, and Young Goat"; and "The Lion and the Mosquito." Again here, there is a text on the left. On the right is a stage frame with two dimensions of players and other items on the stage. The effect as the book is open to any given page is three dimensional. The artwork and papercutting are both splendid!