This book brings together over one hundred of Jean de La Fontaine's best-loved fables for children, in a magnificent new English translation by C. J. Moore (author of In Other Words: A Language Lover's Guide to the Most Intriguing Words Around the World). There are full colour illustrations throughout. Borrowing his inspiration and material unashamedly from Aesop's fables, La Fontaine wrote his stories in French verse in the latter half of the seventeeth century, and they have been popular classics ever since. Timeless stories of countryfolk, heroes from Greek mythology and familiar creatures, each tale contains a moral for living, just as relevant today as 300 years ago. Fables in this collection include favourites such as The Tortoise and the Hare, The Grasshopper and the Ant, and The Raven and the Fox.

 

There are 224 pages in this book. This book was published 2006 by Floris Books .

Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) was born at Chateau-Thierry in the Champagne region of France, and is probably the most widely-read French poet of the seventeenth century. He counted Racine and Moliere among his close friends and was elected to the Academie Francaise in 1684. His Fables, the first of six books of which was published in 1668, were a great success, and continue to be taught widely in French schools. C. J. Moore has degrees in modern languages and linguistics from the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. For many years he worked as author and editor for Heinemann Educational Books. He is well-known as author of the award-winning Ishtar and Tammuz (Frances Lincoln), Peter William Butterblow; The Fire Bird; and Wild Goose Lake (Floris Books). He also edited the concise Carmina Gadelica, a major anthology of Gaelic oral poetry. His most recent book is In Other Words: A Language Lover's Guide to the Most Intriguing Words Around the World (Walker Books US, Oxford University Press UK, 2005).