Anno's Aesop: A Book of Fables

Rating:
Summary: Ingenious parallel stories
Review: Once again, Mistumasa Anno creates an awesome double story in Anno's Aesop. A boy, Freddy Fox, finds a book of Aesop's fables and begs his father to read them to him. The pages show both the pages of Aesop's fables and the words of the father as he "reads" it undearneath. The father creates stories to parallel the pictures. I always love the explanations in the back of Anno's books. Anno, from Japan, travels a lot but doesn't necessarily know the language. He supposes that if his son asked him to read something, he "might pretend" to read the book and so Mr. Fox is a look at Anno himself. I loved reading both the individual fables and ongoing story of Mr. Fox's interpretations. As always, Anno's illustrations are excellently done.

Rating:
Summary: Aesop and son
Review: Quick! Name the best-known Japanese picture book author/illustrator read in the United States today! Give up? Well due to the fact that you've decided to look up a review of a book by the ever-popular Mitsumasa Anno, you've probably guessed the answer with minimal difficulty. Yes, Anno is the man I mean. Best known, perhaps, for his intriguing wordless books (highly recommended) the author's focus has shifted dramatically with this intriguing retelling of Aesop's classic tales. Creating a book that is as original as it is faithful to its sources, "Anno's Aesop" is a complex interweaving of text and reinterpretation.

To begin, we are told a story of little Freddy Fox. Running through the woods one day he stumbles across a book of Aesop's fables. After presenting this book to his father he yearns for the stories to be read to him. We are given the distinct impression that Mr. Fox doesn't know how to read, but he's not about to lose face in front of his son. The result is that Mr. Fox gives his own unique spin on the pictures that follow. As the book progresses we are given 2 stories (usually) per tale. At the top of the page, amid the illustrations, is the actual Aesop fable, complete with moral. At the bottom of the same page is Mr. Fox's tale. His versions are usually concerned primarily with small details that aren't readily apparent with the story's first telling. Therefore, a story about the goose that laid the golden egg and whose picture contains a cat is suddenly (in the Fox's version) in his version all about the feline. Children reading these fables are given a choice of either believing that one tale is superior to the other or that they are both possible interpretations of Anno's cleverly detailed illustrations.

The book may be a little confusing at first, but once the reader (and the children) get into it, it's a lot of fun. Mr. Fox is obviously clueless about a vast majority of the stories, and sometimes it takes some gentle nudging by his son to remember that he's supposed to be "reading" these tales. As for the tales themselves, Mr. Anno has meticulously researched and translated quite a few of them. An Editor's Note in the back of the text tells us that for some of the more obscure stories, Anno relied on books that were a little harder to find. These sources are cited for further reading by adults, if they so chose. Additionally, the book has some factual information about the man known as Aesop, including details on his life and even his death. As for the illustrations in the book itself, fans of Anno's other works will find only one picture that resembles books like "Anno's Journey". Unlike his other books, we see some fine details and facial expressions here. It is obvious that Mitsumasa Anno is a better artist that he'd ever like to let on. And we are the ones who benefit from his talents.

Altogether, the book is almost postmodern in its take on tales and the relation a reader has to illustrations in a text. Says Anno himself, "a child who cannot yet read words can still learn many valuable things by thinking creatively about what he or she sees in the pictures in this book, just as Freddy Fox does". Anyone interested in the fate of illustrations and how picture images are changed in the mind of the reader should take extra care to read this book sometime in their travels. Advanced enough to be pondered by adults, and amusing enough to be enjoyed by children, this book treads the fine line between what parents expect a book to provide and what kids want in their literature. A fabulous tale.

Rating:
Summary: Aesop and son
Review: Quick! Name the best-known Japanese picture book author/illustrator read in the United States today! Give up? Well due to the fact that you've decided to look up a review of a book by the ever-popular Mitsumasa Anno, you've probably guessed the answer with minimal difficulty. Yes, Anno is the man I mean. Best known, perhaps, for his intriguing wordless books (highly recommended) the author's focus has shifted dramatically with this intriguing retelling of Aesop's classic tales. Creating a book that is as original as it is faithful to its sources, "Anno's Aesop" is a complex interweaving of text and reinterpretation.

To begin, we are told a story of little Freddy Fox. Running through the woods one day he stumbles across a book of Aesop's fables. After presenting this book to his father he yearns for the stories to be read to him. We are given the distinct impression that Mr. Fox doesn't know how to read, but he's not about to lose face in front of his son. The result is that Mr. Fox gives his own unique spin on the pictures that follow. As the book progresses we are given 2 stories (usually) per tale. At the top of the page, amid the illustrations, is the actual Aesop fable, complete with moral. At the bottom of the same page is Mr. Fox's tale. His versions are usually concerned primarily with small details that aren't readily apparent with the story's first telling. Therefore, a story about the goose that laid the golden egg and whose picture contains a cat is suddenly (in the Fox's version) in his version all about the feline. Children reading these fables are given a choice of either believing that one tale is superior to the other or that they are both possible interpretations of Anno's cleverly detailed illustrations.

The book may be a little confusing at first, but once the reader (and the children) get into it, it's a lot of fun. Mr. Fox is obviously clueless about a vast majority of the stories, and sometimes it takes some gentle nudging by his son to remember that he's supposed to be "reading" these tales. As for the tales themselves, Mr. Anno has meticulously researched and translated quite a few of them. An Editor's Note in the back of the text tells us that for some of the more obscure stories, Anno relied on books that were a little harder to find. These sources are cited for further reading by adults, if they so chose. Additionally, the book has some factual information about the man known as Aesop, including details on his life and even his death. As for the illustrations in the book itself, fans of Anno's other works will find only one picture that resembles books like "Anno's Journey". Unlike his other books, we see some fine details and facial expressions here. It is obvious that Mitsumasa Anno is a better artist that he'd ever like to let on. And we are the ones who benefit from his talents.

Altogether, the book is almost postmodern in its take on tales and the relation a reader has to illustrations in a text. Says Anno himself, "a child who cannot yet read words can still learn many valuable things by thinking creatively about what he or she sees in the pictures in this book, just as Freddy Fox does". Anyone interested in the fate of illustrations and how picture images are changed in the mind of the reader should take extra care to read this book sometime in their travels. Advanced enough to be pondered by adults, and amusing enough to be enjoyed by children, this book treads the fine line between what parents expect a book to provide and what kids want in their literature. A fabulous tale.