Fairy Tales and Fables

by Gyo Fujikawa

Gyo Fujikawa creates magic with this enchanting collection of fairy tales and fables. These are the stories that all children should experience, that will nourish their young minds and imaginations: Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Hare and the Tortoise, The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, and many more. Some are well known and beloved; others are unfamiliar, but they’re all beautifully written and illustrated. As always, Fujikawa’s characters (human and animal) are endearing and rich in personality. Her stunning images include the ugly duckling looking up plaintively at swans flying in a sunset sky; a lovely princess atop dozens of colorful mattresses (but she can still feel the pea); and tiny Jack chased by a giant large enough to take up nearly an entire spread!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fairy Tales, Short Stories, Teaching, Fairies, Fiction

125 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1970

About the author

Gyo Fujikawa was an American illustrator and children's book author. A prolific creator of more than 50 books for children, her work is regularly in reprint and has been translated into 17 languages and published in 22 countries. Her most popular books, Babies and Baby Animals, have sold over 1.7 million copies in the U.S. Fujikawa is recognized for being the earliest mainstream illustrator of picture books to include children of many races in her work, before it was politically correct to do so.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Samantha]

This was a nice selection of Children's Fairy Tales and Fables. The illustrations are just beautiful!

[Debbie]

I've had this book since I was a year old. Both of my kids read it when they were little. It's been re-released, so I bought it for my granddaughter.

[Dana Saavedra]

Fujikawa, Gyo. Fairy tales and fables. (2008).

Targeted Age: 3-7

This is a great collection of fables, pulled from all sorts of countries and regions (though the fables don’t say where they have originated from). Of all the fables listed, only two are from an Asian culture: The Moon Maiden (Japan) and the Dragon and the Monkey (China). The rest are adapted from Aesop’s fables, traditional English fables, and lesser known fables. It would have been nice if each fable used in this book had its origin listed.

The Moon Maiden
This is a beautiful little story set in Japan about a bamboo-cutter and wife who wanted desperately to have a child but couldn’t. The wife calls out to Mt Fuji, praying for it to send her a child. After she spoke, she saw a glittery light at the summit of the mountain, the bright smiling face of a child. She sends her husband to investigate and he climbs the mountain. There, under a bamboo tree near a stream, he finds a tiny moon child. Princess Moonbeam, the daughter of the Moon Lady has been sent to comfort the childless couple and they raise her as their own. Princess Moonbeam brings them nothing but joy over the years. Once she grows up, she attracts the attention of the Mikado, who wants desperately to marry her, but because the wish of her earthly mother and father had been fulfilled, it was time for her to go back to her sky mother. Her earthly parents and The Mikado pleaded for her to stay. The Mikado thought he could use thousands of guards around the bamboo-cutter’s house to prevent anyone from taking Princess Moonbeam, but it was no use. When the moon rose full in the sky, the guards were left stone-like and The Moon Lady was able to pass through them to her child. She gently picked her daughter up, but because her daughter was so sad to leave her earthly parents and The Mikado behind, she cried silvery tears that took wing and floated away, sending a message of love and comfort to them. Every year, in the early summer, the message of love and comfort can be seen floating in Japan. The fireflies that float in the breeze are little messages of love sent from Princess Moonbeam up in the sky. I loved this story so much. I love fireflies and living in California, we don’t get them here. I was lucky to spend a week in Atlanta in the summer and despite being bitten alive by mosquitoes, I got to run around in a meadow with their lights twinkling around me. Four years later, I visited Washington, D.C. around the same time of the year and was blessed when one landed on my hand and lit up. It was magical.

The Sun and the Wind
This is probably one of my favorite Aesop’s fables growing up. I had the Childcraft Encyclopedia set and loved reading these little stories with morals. The sun and the wind have a great big argument about who is “stronger.” A man comes along wearing a coat, so they agree that whoever can make the man take off his coat is the stronger of the two. The wind blows and blows, but the man just gathers his coat more tightly around himself. Now, it’s the sun’s turn. He shines as brightly and as hot as he can, causing the man to unbutton his coat, and taking it off when he starts to sweat. This is where I remember the fable ending, with the moral of the story saying, “Being kind and gentle can persuade someone to do something more than using brute force or harsh words.” But in this version, the wind is given one more turn. He blows and blows again, and the man, thinking the weather has lost its ever-loving mind, puts his coat back on. The wind declares that the sun could make the man take his coat off, but the wind could make him put it back on again. So, both the sun and the wind are equally strong. They never argued again. I’m not entirely sure what the moral of this story would be now.

[Cheryl]

Disappointing. None of the diversity usually found in Fujikawa's little books that feature babies. No credit given Andersen, Perrault, or other original authors. The pieces that were new to me weren't worth reading.

[Kathryn]

Gyo Fujikawa’s art is perfectly suited for a book of fairy tales. As expected, some hold up better than others, but my 3 year old still sat and listened to every one. I wish this listed the origins or original authors.

[jw]

Many familiar tales here but these weren’t my favourite versions of the stories

[Diana]

After reading this book, I think I may have had it as child. Also, I think Gyo Fujikawa may have influenced some of my own illustrations. I love her style.

[Sasha]

How can these dragons be so fearsome and so endearing at the same time!?!?!?

[Maribel Ruiz]

Fable: Fujikawa, Gyo (2008) Fairy Tales and Fables
Target Audience: Ages 7-12
Setting: There are a variety of fairy tales and fables that are taking place in the woods or at a house.

Characters/plot/summary: This book is a combination of fairy tales and Aesop’s fables. There are different stories in the book that are read to the children. Like the Hare and the Tortoise, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Lion and The Mouse, The Goose and the Golden Egg. There are different life lessons to be learned within each fable.

Illustrations: Some illustrations are in color and others are in black and white. Generally it is every other page. This keeps the reader actively reading because of the color contrasts. The illustrations are vivid and provide a great representation of the fables.

Personal critique/strengths/weaknesses: These fables are great stories to read and I would suggest this book to anyone who would like to share these stories with their students or children. The fables provide insight on providing examples on what happens when a character makes a choice. The fable delivers a message that will teach the individual a lesson to be learned in life.

[Catherine Clarke]

This review is only for "The Golden Goose"
The target audience for this story is k-3
This fable often gets confused with "The Goose that lays the Golden Eggs," but they are two different stories dealing with the same motif, which is a golden item. Golden items tend to represent riches and in turn often deal with greed in a story. This fable is no different. This story deals with three brothers who go out into the woods. The two oldest brothers do not help and old man and both brother have accidents on their way home. The youngest brother helps the old man and is given a golden goose. People around the youngest brother try to take golden feathers, and each person who tries to take the goose gets into some sort of accident. Overall the moral of the story is to not be greedy and to help people out. This is a really short story, and this particular book did have illustrations, but they looked a little dull and I felt that they did not add to the story. I think the a strength of this story is the moral, it is a great one to teach young kids. Overall I would recommend this book despite the poor illustrations.

[Mary Botkin]

Since the day my dear cousin Karen gave me this book back in 1971, it has easily become my absolute favorite book from my childhood. I read and loved that book so much that it totally fell apart much to my dismay. I had to reorder it. I still love it, but it's not the same because her inscription is not in this one. Still, I read it to my kids and they too now have fond memories of this one. The illustrations are what make it so special. The same stories in other books are nowhere near as interesting without Gyo Fujikawa's stunning artwork. To this day, when I'm feeling low, I'll pick this up and read through it and take a much needed trip down memory lane.

Thank you, Karen Polacheck!

[Robby Burke]

Fairy Tales and Fables by Gyo Fujikawa

Setting: There are many locations where the multiple stories take place

Illustrations: The artwork in the book explains in detail where the story is going, depending on the story. The colors are somewhat dark, which can explain the characters’’ portrails in their respected stories.

Summary/Plot: The book has multiple stories that stems from Like The Goose and the Golden Egg, the Lion and the Mouse, as well as the Hare and the Tortoise.

Critique: These stories are insightful and interesting. I like how the stories give a meaning and lesson for each for the young readers, specifically the Lion and the Mouse. It presents the idea of friendship and unity.

[Carly]

I origanlly purchased this book to use at my ttoring job last semester. The students would read me a story and then we would discuss the moral behind each story. The two students I worked with enjoyed the stories that they often asked to do additional stories. I liked how the book has multiple fairy tales and fables such as "The Lion and the Mouse", "Little Eva", and "The Little Red Hen". I feel that this book could be used in the classroom to introduce the concept of fairy tales and fables while teaching valuable lessons to the students.

[Siskiyou-Suzy]

Fairy Tales and Fables is a cute collection. The illustrations are very nice for the most part. The end papers are gorgeous, and there are many other full-page illustrations that are just beautiful.

Fairy tales and folk tales are often kinda terrible though, so many of these aren't great. Many of them are watered-down versions as well, and I don't think I'd actually read any of them to children. The best ones are the Aesop's Fables ones, but I always find those sort of awkward to read out loud because they're so short and abrupt.

[Amy]

I loved this book. The tales are short enough for bedtime stories, but the writing is not dumbed down. The illustrator is Japanese-American, and drew in a quaint sort of way. Some pages are in color and some are in black and white. This book definitely has an old-fashioned feel.

Unfortunately, my seven year old son did not like this nearly as much as I did. He is not a "fairy tale and fable" sort of boy.

[Sarah]

My 7 year old often asks me to read to her from this book before bed. It contains fifty diiferent short stories, from favorites like Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin, to lesser known tales like Nailbroth and Little Eva. Most of the tales are 3 pages or less, so they also keep the interest of my 3 year old. The illustrations are cute (alternating between black and white and color)and the language is easily understood by young readers.

[Andrea Snyder]

In this book I read the story about the Elves and the Shoemaker. What I learned from this is that everyone has days when they are out of luck or running low and it seems like you've hit rock bottom but sometimes one thing can change that around but you can't take it for granted. Sometimes you need to stop and say thank you to the luck you've received and be grateful.

[Donna]

Beautiful and thorough collection of classic Grimm and Andersen tales and many of Aesop's fables. These include Cinderella, Goldilocks, Rumplestiltskin, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, the Fox and the Grapes, the Crow and the Pitcher, etc.

[Gail]

I love the illustrations. I bought this to counter all the Disney exposure my little one is getting.

[Lilly_n.]

The best fairy book ever!

[traci]

This is the Fairy Tale book I grew up with. I still have my tattered, well loved copy that I read over and over myself and then with all 3 of my boys.