Fables For Our Time And Famous Poems Illustrated

''Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated'' is a 1940 book by

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected in ...

. Thurber updates some old fables and creates some new ones of his own. Notably there is 'The Bear Who Could Take It Or Leave It Alone' about a bear who lapses into alcoholism before sobering up and going too far that way. (He used to say 'See what the bears in the back room will have.') Also an updated version of '

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brother ...

' which ends with the immortal lines, "even in a nightcap a wolf does not look any more like your grandmother than the Metro-Goldwyn lion looks like Calvin Coolidge. So the little girl took an automatic out of her basket and shot the wolf dead. " All the fables have one-line morals. The moral of 'Little Red Riding Hood' is "Young girls are not so easy to fool these days." Another fable concerns a non-materialist chipmunk who likes to arrange nuts in pretty patterns rather than just piling up as many as he can. He is constantly nagged by his chipmunk wife for this. All fables had previously appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''.

Fables

''Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated'' contains 28 fables written and illustrated by Thurber. {, class = "wikitable" , - !Fable !issue date of New Yorker , - , The Mouse Who Went to the Country , align = "center", Jan 21, 1939 , - , The Little Girl and the Wolf , align = "center", Jan 21, 1939 , - , The Two Turkeys , align = "center", Jan 21, 1939 , - , The Tiger Who Understood People , align = "center", Jan 21, 1939 , - , The Fairly Intelligent Fly , align = "center", Feb 04, 1939 , - , The Lion Who Wanted to Zoom , align = "center", Feb 04, 1939 , - , The Very Proper Gander , align = "center", Feb 04, 1939 , - , The Moth and the Star , align = "center", Feb 18, 1939 , - , The Shrike and the Chipmunks , align = "center", Feb 18, 1939 , - , The Seal Who Became Famous , align = "center", Feb 17, 1940 , - , The Hunter and the Elephant , align = "center", Feb 18, 1939 , - , The Scotty Who Knew Too Much , align = "center", Feb 18, 1939 , - , The Bear Who Let lt Alone , align = "center", Apr 29, 1939 , - , The Owl Who Was God , align = "center", Apr 29, 1939 , - , The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing , align = "center", Apr 29, 1939 , - , The Stork Who Married a Dumb Wife , align = "center", Jul 29, 1939 , - , The Green Isle in the Sea , align = "center", Feb 17, 1940 , - , The Crow and the Oriole , align = "center", Jul 29, 1939 , - , The Elephant Who Challenged the World , align = "center", Jul 29, 1939 , - , The Birds and the Foxes , align = "center", Oct 21, 1939 , - , The Courtship of Arthur and Al , align = "center", Aug 26, 1939 , - , The Hen Who Wouldn't Fly , align = "center", Aug 26, 1939 , - , The Glass in the Field , align = "center", Aug 26, 1939 , - , The Tortoise and the Hare , align = "center", Oct 21, 1939 , - , The Patient Bloodhound , align = "center", Feb 17, 1940 , - , The Unicorn in the Garden , align = "center", Oct 21, 1939 , - , The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble , align = "center", Aug 26, 1939 , - , The Hen and the Heavens , align = "center", Feb 04, 1939 , -

Illustrated Poems

''Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated'' contains nine poems written by diverse authors and illustrated by Thurber (the dates given are those of The New Yorker issue): *

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

, written by

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

, March 11, 1939 * The Sands o' Dee, written by

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

Lochinvar Lochinvar (or Lan Var) is a loch in the civil parish of Dalry in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway Scotland. It is located in the Galloway Hills, around north-east of St. John's Town of Dalry. The loch formerly h ...

, written by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

, April 8, 1939 * Locksley Hall, written by

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

* "Oh When I Was ...", written by

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

* Curfew Must Not Ring To-Night, written by

Rose Hartwick Thorpe Rose Hartwick Thorpe (July 18, 1850 – July 19, 1939) was an American poet and writer, remembered largely for the narrative poem, '' Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' (1867), which gained national popularity. It was translated into nearly every lan ...

, June 17, 1939 *

Barbara Frietchie ''Barbara Frietchie, The Frederick Girl'' is a play in four acts by Clyde Fitch and based on the heroine of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Barbara Frietchie" (based on a real person: Barbara Fritchie). Fitch takes a good bit of artistic libe ...

, written by

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

, September 16, 1939 * The Glove and the Lions, written by

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centr ...

Ben Bolt "Ben Bolt" ( Roud 2653) is a sentimental ballad with lyrics derived from a poem by Thomas Dunn English. It enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the English-speaking world during the nineteenth century. History Thomas Dunn English wrote the ...

, written by

Thomas Dunn English Thomas Dunn English (June 29, 1819 – April 1, 1902) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who represented the state's 6th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895. He was also a published a ...

1940 anthologies 1940 poetry books 1940 short story collections Fables Works by James Thurber

Contents

Fables

Illustrated Poems