The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

Apart from the natural desire of the children to sue the publishers of this book under the Trades Descriptions Act (real golden eggs, indeed!) and my wanting to take issue with them over the suggested age range (3 to 6 is too young for the complexity of this tale) this is a lovely book. A faithful retelling of Aesop's fable with very attractive illustrations, apparently done in pastel and ink on brown wrapping paper, this was much liked by 6 and 7 year olds. They were old enough to discuss the moral and motivation of the farmer and his wife, and to feel the waste of the poor goose's end. The story reads aloud well and is written clearly enough for children to read themselves with the interest of the occasional challenge to their vocabulary, particularly 'curious', 'spritely' and 'hoarding'.