We will now list a number of publications and applications that are influenced by various functions we previously addressed. The most common form of Aesop’s Fables we see today are books that are designed for children aged from 2 to 12 and up to 14 years old21. With a quick search on Amazon books with the keyword “Aesop’s Fables”, one will find more than one thousand results listed under the category of Children’s Books that are associated with the previous function as enlightened readings. As discussed earlier, since the 18th century, accompanied illustrations have been a great feature of Aesop’s Fables and continue to be an important element of children’s publications in the present day. Depending on different target readers, these children’s books have different ratio of text and illustration. Some are subcategorized as Picture Books. They are simple and emphasize on the images for target readers who are children under 6 years old or even younger. Books designed for babies and toddlers
21 It is important to bear in mind that the suggested age of readings is not an absolute boundary. It mostly depends on readers’ reading competence and how the publishers tried to sell the books.
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only have images, such as “The Lion and The Mouse” by Jerry Pinkney (2009), a picture book for children ages one and up. This version has minimal text and tells the entire fable with a series of pictures. Children from two to eight years old have less vocabulary and use short patterns. Books designed for them are with shorter texts and are in simple English, designed in a way that fables serve more as a textual aid while children spend most of the time studying images. Take Aesop’s Fables by John Cech (Cech & Jarrie, 2009) for example. This version has short texts with clear morals and each fable has an illustration. It targets children from 4 to 7 years old. Another example is Aesop’s Fables by Ayano Imai (2013) that has one image for each story with longer texts for children from 5 to 7 years old. Some versions are under Juvenile Fiction, a subcategory of Children’s Books which includes readings suitable for children aged 9 to 12 years old. This version emphasizes more on text. Fables are retold, adopted or simplified for young readers to better understand stories and morals. Aesop’s Fables by Beverley Naidoo (2011) aims at children from 5 to 11 years old. This version has longer texts and images for each fable. Another example is Aesop’s Fables by Ann Mcgovern (2013). This version has less images and is designed for children from 7 to 10 years old.
The number of fables vary in different versions. Some have more than 50 fables in a book and others have only one fable. Besides the typical Aesop’s Fables adorned with pictures, Aesop’s Fables can also be presented in other forms. We can find Aesop’s Fables turned into coloring books (Aesop's fables, 1972). Each fable comes with a black and while illustration for children to fill up the blank with colors and are designed for children from 3 to 11 years old. The fables are short with morals. There is also Aesop’s Fables adopted into graphic novels for children from 10 to 14 years old. (Vincent &
Owsley, 2013) It is fun to read fables as comics and emphasizes on the conversation and morals that are written in speech bubbles. Now let’s take a look at images of abovementioned publications.
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Figure 62 The cover of The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Figure 63 An illustration of The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney -1
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Figure 64 An illustration of The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney -2
Figure 65 An illustration of The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney -3
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Figure 66 The cover of Aesop's Fables by John Cech
Figure 67 The content page of Aesop's Fables by John Cech
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Figure 68 The cover of Aesop’s Fables by Ayano Imai
Figure 69 The content of Aesop’s Fables by Ayano Imai
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Figure 70 The cover of Aesop’s Fables by Beverley Naidoo
Figure 71 The content of Aesop’s Fables by Beverley Naidoo
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Figure 72 The cover of Aesop's Fables by Ann Mcgovern
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Figure 73 The content of Aesop's Fables by Ann Mcgovern
Figure 74 The cover of the coloring book
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Figure 75 The content of the coloring book
Figure 76 The cover of Aesop’s Fables by Eric Vincent
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Figure 77 The content of Aesop’s Fables by Eric Vincent
Illustrations, are mostly a feature of publications, however the following is different from the previous children’s books we’ve discussed. Aesop’s Fables illustrated by, Alice Provensen, Martin Provensen (1965) is a great example of an artist turning ordinary materials into arts. The Provensen’s work is meant for all ages. This version of Aesop’s Fable presented as more of an art-piece. Texts are embedded in illustrations.
The vibrant color and expressive elegance of the illustration are a visual feast for the eyes. Aesop’s Fables have been turned into an inspiration for artists to create. With their unique insights and passion, artists transformed and represented Aesop’s Fables.
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Figure 78 Fable "The Gnat and The Fly" by the Provensen
Figure 79 Fable "The Goose with the Golden Eggs" by the Provense
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Figure 80 Fable "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse" by the Provensen
With advancements in technology and innovation, people today learn with new approaches. Technology plays a significant role in the advancement of education.
Learning conducted through electronic media, typically on the Internet is no longer
“strange” to children of this generation. Aesop’s Fables have also been introduced to electronic media and turned into various forms. Aesop's Fables for Children: Includes
a Read-and-Listen CD is a book of Aesop’s Fables that comes with an audio CD which
readers can use to listen and read at the same time. A customer’s review comments,“We use this book with the third grade class at our school. The illustrations are marvelous and engaging to the children. The fables are told in a way the children can fully grasp the moral of the story. It is a splendid tool for teaching literature as well as common sense, which seems to be at a premium these days.” This book not only functions as readings for children but also provides students with a new way of learning with technology. Audio resources also enable teachers’ performance at schools. On
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Youtube, a channel called MagicBox Animation provides videos specially designed for parents of preschoolers, teachers, babies, toddlers and young learners. These videos are easy to learn and teach with fun animations. One of its video playlists include “Aesop's Fables - Animated/Cartoon Tales For Kids.” There are 20 clips within this playlist that each tell a fable through animation. Fables are made into motion pictures or animations and become visual readings for children. Aesop’s Fables used to be language learning materials. It is not surprising to find a website that use fables to teach English grammar.
A website called English Grammar Online provides users with all sorts of materials to learn English. (Ego4u.com, n.d.) The website offers texts for readers to build up their vocabularies and reading capacity. Under the Read On section, there are three pieces of fables that are used as reading tests with questions either concerning the fable itself or English grammar. For example, “The Lion and the Mouse” is displayed on the website with five subsequent questions. The first four questions are for reading comprehension.
The last question asks users to use the following sentence into active voice: “The Lion was caught by the hunters.” The test also comes with an automatic check. Users can check their answers and choose if they want to mark wrong answers, replace wrong by correct answers, or simply just show all correct answers. This instant check help users to learn individually and remotely. Another website called ManyThings.org (Manythings.org, n.d.) is an online resource for users to learn English. It also provides users with audio clips of Aesop’s Fables as reading materials. Though the medium has changed, these fables still function as language learning materials. A Christian website (Kids.christiansunite.com, n.d.) that endeavors in preaching Christianity provides family reading resources online. They are Bible stories for younger kids, Bible coloring pages, Aesop’s Fables and so on. Is is not clear what is the source texts of the fables or if they have adopted fables to meet their needs. However, it is intriguing to see how it relates to the fact that Aesop’s Fables in the Middle Ages were once used as preaching
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materials. Aesop’s Fables are also adopted into scripts for drama. Dramatizing Aesop's