Close Menu
www.crackingthecover.com
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Home
    • Picture
      • Ages 0-3
      • Ages 2 and up
      • Ages 3 and up
      • Ages 4 and up
      • Ages 5 and up
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 8 and up
      • Author Interviews
      • Bedtime Stories
      • Gift Guide
    • Middle Grade
      • Author Interviews
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 7 and up
      • Ages 8-12
      • Ages 9-12
      • Ages 10 and up
      • Gift Guide
    • YA
      • Author Interviews
      • Reviews
      • Adult Crossover
      • Gift Guide
    • Seasonal
      • Back to School
      • Christmas
      • Earth Day
      • Easter
      • Fall
      • Father’s Day
      • Mother’s Day
      • Gift Guide
      • Halloween
      • Spring
      • Valentine’s Day
      • Winter
    • Diversity
      • AANHPI Heritage
      • Autism Month
      • Black Experience
      • Chinese New Year
      • Hispanic Heritage
      • Pride Month
      • Women’s History
    • Crossover
    • About
      • Review/interview policy
      • About our reviewers
    www.crackingthecover.com

    Interesting setup, beautiful artwork set ‘Mr. Aesop’s Story Shop’ apart

    0
    By Jessica on November 8, 2012 ages 6 and up, picture books

    “MR. AESOP’S STORY SHOP,” by Bob Hartman and Jago Silver, Lion Children’s, June 1, 2011, Hardcover, $14.99 (ages 6 and up)

    Under an awning in a tucked-away corner of the Greek marketplace, a little bald man with bandy legs and a crooked smile lays out olives and cheese and offers it to the people on their way home. With his refreshments, he offers fables, stories with a moral. With a few jokes, the people settle in and he begins to tell the story of a mouse and a lion…

    The next day Aesop, the storyteller, begins another story — this time of a crow and a jar. The following day comes the tale of a fox and grapes. A city mouse and country mouse take center stage the following day and an ant and a dung beetle the next. Aesop’s stories continue and so do the lessons contained in them. Finally ending with a story about a wolf and a dog and earning freedom.

    Author Bob Hartman takes a new approach to Aesop’s fables. In his research on Aesop’s life, Hartman learned that Aesop may have once been a slave who was later set free. Hartman decided to use that as a setup for each of the fables, having Aesop himself tell the tales. It’s an interesting idea and works fairly well. And the accompanying illustrations — particularly those of animals — are beautiful. Artist Jago Silver has created a rustic, layered look that is in keeping with Hartman’s writing and Aesop’s fables.

    “Mr. Aesop’s Story Shop” has a lot more text than a traditional picture book and is therefore suited to stronger beginners and young readers with longer attention spans.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Jessica
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • X (Twitter)

    Jessica Harrison is the reviewer behind Cracking the Cover. She loves books and worked as the in-house book critic at a daily newspaper, writing reviews and interviewing authors for two years. When the company cut back, she lost her position covering books, but that doesn't mean she stopped reading. If anything, the whole experience made her more passionate about reading and giving people the tools to make informed decisions in their own book choices. She has been featured on NetGalley's Blogger Spotlight and is on Kindleprenuer's Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs. Contact her at jessica(at)crackingthecover(dot)com and follow Cracking the Cover on Bluesky, Instagram,  Facebook and Twitter (X) @crackingthecovr. You can also read scaled down reviews on Jessica's Goodreads review page. Jessica is also a reviewer on Amazon.

    Related Posts

    Enter the fascinating world of insects in Welcome to the Museum’s Insectarium

    Life: The Wild Wonders of Biodiversity is eye-catching picture book

    The Moon Moved In is imaginative picture book

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • bluesky
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • facebook
    • goodreads
    • amazon
    • bloglovin
    • mail
    Subscribe by email
    Follow
    Recent Posts
    July 11, 2025

    Enter the fascinating world of insects in Welcome to the Museum’s Insectarium

    July 11, 2025

    Middle grade ghost stories feature buried secrets

    July 11, 2025

    YA Fantasy novels feature magic and mystery

    July 11, 2025

    Fight summer boredom with middle grade reads

    July 10, 2025

    Life: The Wild Wonders of Biodiversity is eye-catching picture book

    Archives
    Categories
    On Writing

    “The dance with words and the way the hair on the back of my neck raises when it works right is what I live for.”

    —Gary Paulsen

    “I write because I exist. Because I read. Because I breathe.”

    —Lindsay Eager

    “Books are kind of like the sense of smell: inhale one page and memories come rushing back.”

    —Keir Graff

    Cracking the Cover is a website dedicated to picture, middle-grade and young adult books. It features reviews, author interviews and other book news. PLEASE NOTE: We are not currently accepting self published books for review.

    Copyright © 2010-2022 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.

    Reviews Published Professional Reader 2016 NetGalley Challenge 100 Book Reviews

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.