cover image You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together

Mary Ann Hoberman, illus. by Michael Emberley, Little, Brown/Tingley, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-316-04117-1

The team behind the collaborative reading series turns their attention to Aesop's fables. Two readers can recite alternating passages differentiated by color, with the closing morals to be read in unison. Emberley's pencil and watercolor spot illustrations bring fresh energy to the classic tales as well as a softening tone: the Hare and the Tortoise race on bicycles (the Hare wears spandex), and the golden-egg laying goose has a button-up chest, ensuring that the farmer doesn't have to use his knife. The jaunty rhymes and theatrical element of adopting a persona should spark enthusiasm from reluctant readers. Ages 3–6. (Nov.)