Aesop's Funky Fables

French has retold ten of Aesop's best known fables in a large, handsome picture book format, half of them in rap-like staccato verse and the rest in prose enlivened by spicy dialogue and block capital sound effects. Paul's strident, cartoonish illustrations amplify the megaphone effects of this treatment. The intrusion of dire adjectives like 'funky' into the titles of collections of traditional tales always gives me the sort of sinking feeling that many people must experience when they see venerable artists squandering their dignity by attempting to be trendy, and I must admit that the raucousness of some of these versions did nothing to enhance my enjoyment of them. However the children I showed this book to did enjoy the look and the feel of it, and the opportunities it offers for recitation and performance would be welcomed by many teachers.