M. D. Clark

Margaret Clark, who confesses in her foreword that she had little fondness for Aesop's work as a child, here presents twenty-seven of his classic fables, retold without their usual moral conclusion. The idea of separating the story from the "preacherly" tone is not entirely unprecedented in Aesop adaptation, although I think the nature of the tales themselves defeats any effort to do away with the moral message altogether. That said, Clark's retelling did not impress me, not because she show more chose to concentrate on the story, but because I found her voice too self-consciously informal and colloquial.

Charlotte Voake's illustrations, on the other hand, were simply delightful! Her droll animal characters are an entertainment in and of themselves, with their sly sideways glances, and humorous expressions. Judged on this basis alone, I might have awarded The Best of Aesop's Fables four stars, but taken together with the text, this volume gets three. show less

Simone starts writing in a diary shortly before she finds herself homeless. Throughout her journey, the diary becomes her best friend, and an insight into what life is like for teenagers living on the street. I liked the premise of the book but the language was annoying, a little contrived I think, but maybe that's just because it was written in the 90s :)

Silent Knight is another unlikely hero like Snag, Clark's gladiator character in a previous Aussie Bites title. He is scared of dragons and of rust (a real concern when you wear a suit of armour every day, even to bed). Surprisingly it is a dragon who helps him with his rust problem when he in turn helps the dragon

I really enjoyed this story. It reminded me of the cartoon "Tracy McBean on the ABC. All the characters are slightly wacky and a little bit irritating, but somehow endearing. I also liked the real Australian feel to this story. Mrs B