AESOP'S FABLES

Contrived 2,500 years ago by the Greek storyteller Aesop, these fables were only written down 300 years later. Jonathan Kent's reading revives the original oral tradition, and his voices for the animal characters make the little stories entertaining as well as enlightening. The variety of characters Kent creates will fascinate children, the better to impart the time-tested moral lessons still with us thousands of years later. The production squeezes 160 fables into 140 minutes, making each one last less than a minute. Adults will likely find the segments trivial, too brief, and lacking in continuity. Some of the vocabulary may seem challenging for young minds, but one can never predict what age level will listen and what they already know. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2009]