The Usborne Treasury of Animal Stories

Abstract

There are eighteen stories here after an introduction titled Where Stories Come From (6). The first of the fables included among them is Brer Rabbit and the Tug of War (18), whose moral is You shouldn't judge by appearances. How Bear Lost His Tail (24) features the usual ice-fishing trick and one of the book's most brilliant pictures: bear covered with snow while his tail is locked into the frozen hole (27). LM (29) is told in standard fashion but has nice touches like the mouse sliding down the lion's face until he is perched on the lion's nose. The Monkey and the Crocodile (34) has the usual features of sharing fruit and a wife who insists on having monkey-heart. Brer Rabbit gets his Comeuppance (39) has the tortoise using his family to fool the hare at regular intervals along the way. The tortoises use a white feather to distinguish themselves. Brer Rabbit knows that they have pulled a trick but does not know how. There are several pourquoi? stories here. GA is well illustrated on 66-69; the ant relents and lets the grasshopper come inside. The next summer the grasshopper works while he sings -- and he resists the invitations of other grasshoppers to forget about work. A final fable is The Rat who was to Marry the Sun (70-75). I cannot understand this book's rules for capitalizing its titles.