Greatest Animal Stories by Michael Morpurgo (Editor)

Greatest Animal Stories by Michael Morpurgo (Editor)
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Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Tony Taylor
Summary: A wonderful collection of animal tales which are beautifully presented. There's a menagerie of animals throughout with deep life-learning messages for childhood along the way. This is a stunning book and one to be looked after.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 256	Date: October 2016
Publisher: OUP Oxford
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0192748621
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We all know of Aesop and his animal fables: the hare and the tortoise, the boy who cried wolf or the ant and the grasshopper. In this stunning collection of animal stories, Michael Morpurgo has collated well-known and much-loved animal stories in a beautifully presented book. In the introduction he writes that we often first meet animals in stories before we meet them in real life and this collection is selected from his favourite childhood animal tales. Within his own stories, Morpurgo favours the inclusion of animals as the central character and these are all well received by children. As a primary school teacher, I value the fact that such a well-known author has collected these valuable animal-centred stories which can be used not only to engage children with tales from different cultures but also in providing life lessons. Each is beautifully illustrated and individual in style to each story. Prefacing each tale is a short paragraph giving information on the origin of the story and often a question or two to promote thought and discussion within the story. The stories originate from across the globe: Iceland, Africa, China and North America to name a few.

This is not just a collection of Aesops fables, it includes other popular tales including Brer Rabbit, Peter and the Wolf, Puss in Boots and Native American folk tales. Each tale is about 10 pages long and intertwined with the fabulous illustrations. The text is positioned differently on each page which makes each page unique and engaging for children. The language is appropriate for children to read independently - my 7-year old son could confidently read the stories, only struggling with a word or two. This treasured collection is ideal for bedtime stories and many of these tales will become firm favourites.

I particularly liked the morals at the end of the fables which are easily understandable by children and presented as if on wooden boards. These morals will teach children life-long lessons of generosity, kindness and the art of being grateful. Children often learn key life lessons through fictional stories and these stories can be drawn upon to consider consequences of our actions. Whilst watching the BBC 2 programme Teaching Teens to Read, a quote struck me as being appropriate to this collection: Children learn empathy through reading stories. In addition, Amnesty International found that in their poll over half of the parents questioned believed that reading taught their child empathy. In these world-selected tales, children can identify and empathise with a range of characters in a variety of situations whether it be the farmer in The Farmer and the Eagle, the mouse and lion in Let Me Go or The Ugly Duckling story.

This is a really special collection of animal tales which would make a lovely Christmas gift. For further reading, I recommend Bicycling to the Moon by Timo Parvela as this has similar moral-based animal stories.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Greatest Animal Stories by Michael Morpurgo (Editor) at Amazon.com.

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