Amy Lowry Poole

Author / illustrator Amy Lowry weaves together four famous Aesopian fables concerning the fox in this entertaining picture book, following that vulpine character through a day of misdeeds. Waking up hungry, the fox seeks the grapes at the bottom of his lane, but finds that he cannot obtain them as they are too high off the ground, concluding that they must be sour and that he does not want them after all. Proceeding along, he tricks a crow out of her cheese using flattery, and tricks a goat into jumping into a well, in order to extricate himself from that same predicament. He finishes his day at a dinner given by the stork, this time finding himself tricked, when his avian host, determined to be revenged upon him for a similar trick, serves the food in such a way that he cannot eat it...

Being familiar with all four of the fables—The Fox and the Grapes, The Fox and the Crow, The Fox and the Goat, and The Fox and the Stork—used in Fox Tails: Four Fables from Aesop, I was curious to see how Lowry would string them all together, in order to form one cohesive narrative. On the whole I think she succeeded very nicely, and I found the story here amusing. The fox is always wily, but only sometimes the victor, which is as it should be. The artwork, done in gouache and pencil, has definite appeal, although I think I appreciated the use of color and general composition more than the depiction of specific animals. Somehow, our vulpine hero seemed a little too portly to me, and I'm not sure how I felt about his sweater. I have read quite a few Aesopian retellings at this point, both of individual tales and in collections, and I always enjoy them. But stories such as this, which use various fables together, in order to tell a larger story, are somewhat less common (although no less enjoyable). I would recommend this one to young fox lovers and to those seeking creative Aesopian retellings, and would recommend the following titles in this same vein: Anno's Aesop: A Book of Fables by Aesop and Mr. Fox by Mitsumasa Anno and Tales of a Long Afternoon by Max Bolliger.… (plus d'informations)

A great book by author Amy Lowry Poole. a story that tells the importance of being a responsible leader. Also is shows the importance of having all the weather elements that are needed for the Eco system. This story somewhat sheds a light on human activities that hurt the environment , while thinking we are helping because of our greed. The rain never came down so the suns were shot . later in the story humans were begging for the suns to come back, until they did. This story can be read to students during social studies or even a science class to show how the Eco system works, and how sometimes matters better left to the Eco system to fix itself.… (plus d'informations)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book! I cannot wait to tell my best friend, husband, and in-law's about this story. We are all chicken owners and this just made me so tickled pink with why our roosters have "crowns". My rooster, Red, is such a sweetheart and I could see him bringing out the sun for me in a dark time. I spend lots of time with my all my birds and goat. They can make anyone smile on a bad day, just as the rooster did with the sun in this book. Also, it is the reason the crow at the crack of dawn!! hahaha.... I am truly a sucker for stories like this!… (plus d'informations)