John J. Plenty and Fiddler Dan: a New Fable of the Grasshopper and the Ant

by John Ciardi

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

John Anthony Ciardi was an American poet, translator, editor, writer and etymologist.

Reviews

[Isaak]

We just got this as an ILL and it was short so I read it before processing and ouch:') exactly what I needed to hear right now though, loved the illustrations, too

[Katherine Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not care for the illustrations - there were 3 important characters, John, Dan, and John's sister who became Dan's wife. No illustration of her at all despite at least two mentions of her presence by Dan's side as he plays. AND she has no name. The illustrations were partially random squiggles. The ones that were supposed to represent John and Dan were sometimes indecipherable.

This is a spin on the ant and the grasshopper fable. Interesting. It's a quirky tale. A bit like Shel Silverstein's work. It could have been more inspiring, but it was just too ... odd.

It's an older book, I had to borrow it through interlibrary loan. Recommended via a cool blog, https://www.themarginalian.org/. I highly recommend that, it's quite interesting.

Still, a tale about how music and nature sustains us is a worthy one, even when presented so vaguely.

[Robert McTague · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little tale updated for modernity.

[Lake Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple retelling of an old tale. Well worth re-reading from time to time as a reminder to us all.

[Landis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art: 4 stars
Story: 3 stars

[Daniel Pearse · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somehow the ant who works hard and prepares is the bad guy as the grasshopper who plays away doesn't seem to suffer any consequences for his inaction.