The Puffin Book of Fabulous Fables

A useful book containing 42 pithy little tales, with not a wasted word in any of them. Just over a third come from Aesop; the rest are drawn from a variety of traditions and a handful of individuals. Most of the major vices are admonished in these enjoyable retellings, which come in helpings small enough to dish out at a moment's notice: the moment a crime is committed, for example. Handy of have at your elbow for a quick, reliable story and a good way of introducing children to an area of oral tradition.