What a truly extraordinary collection of tales, from all over the world and with so many different ideas and cultures! All of them involve animals, as one would expect with Richard Adams, and this edition also has beautiful color and black and white illustrations. The exact location of a story is not given, and the time is only hinted at in some of them (holidays in Brighton, a Native force during WWII from Nairobi), which makes the reader find the universality of these stories regardless of how they are written down.

Don't be fooled that this is a tale of sweet bunnies, though; some of the tales have explicit adult themes and any reading aloud to children should be done at the adult's discretion. There is a re-telling of the mice in the field of corn from The Mabinogion; the Moddey Dhoo from the Isle of Man (and with a reference to Adams himself, as he moved there after his writing success); a tale of the Esquimau (ibid) about the Crow who brings back daylight, and the Iron Wolf from Eastern European lands. And yet, change the telling a bit, and any of the tales can be transported to any culture that the teller wishes. The Prince who seeks eternal youth, finds a magic horse, and thereby breaks his parent's heart when he rides off; the Language of Animals that allows a good-hearted man to find comfort and some measure of wealth are all re-told as only Richard Adams can.

Adams says it best in his Introduction: he envisions the earth as the astronauts see it, rotating on its access, yet enclosed in a gossamer-like sphere (what he calls the "unbroken web") in which we live, and to which "the story-teller reaches up, grasps that part of the web which happens to be above his head at the moment and draws it down . . . to touch the earth. When he has told his story--its story-- he releases it and it springs back and continues in rotation." ( )

'What on earth are you doing now?' asked the dragon
'Got a spade?' replied Stan,. 'Just go and get it for me, will
you?'
'Whatever for?'
'Well, you obviously haven't realised that you could save yourself all this work by simply digging up the stream and taking it to the cave. You're lucky to have an expert like me, you really are. Of course, I'll have to charge you for specialist advice. To digging up one stream, £1. To knowing how, £999. It's very cheap at that price, actually. The one I did for the King of Armenia cost a lot more than that, but it was a bigger one, of course. It runs through the palace gardens now. You might like to go and have a look at it some time.'

I picked this book up for £1.99 at a charity shop due to its lovely dust jacket, which shows animals and birds peeking through leaves. Richard Adam retells 19 folk tales about animals from around the world. Each story is illustrated by a beautiful colour plate as well as black and white drawings, so it is lovely to look at. ( )

Originelse vertellingen. Schitterend geillustreerd.
De schrijfstijl is alsof iemand voorleest die zich af en toe tot de lezer richt. ( )

There are beautiful illustrations in this compilation of stories. ( )

Book Description: NY: Crown, 1980. Fine/missing Beautiful, crisp copy in Brodart. Illustrated by Yvonne Gilbert. first printing edition. Binding is cloth.