Aesop's Fables

Aesop (6th century BC), is believed to have been a Greek slave on the island of Samos and, according to Herodotus and other classical writers, he was killed by the people of Delphi, who threw him off a rock after he had committed some grave offence against them. Legend has it that he was misshapen, ugly and spoke with a stammer, but his storytelling was famed for its wit, and his ability to teach lessons in morality through story has made his name synonymous with the genre of 'fable'. None of the stories attributed to him existed in written versions until about 300 BC, and the fables have been added through the centuries to the collections appearing under his name, so it is impossible to know how many of the tales in this book were told originally by the man himself – whoever he was! More by Aesop

Marcus Sedgwick is the author of White Crow, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in the United Kingdom, and Revolver, which was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and was named a Printz Honor book in the United States. The author of many widely admired novels, he lives near Cambridge, England. More by Marcus Sedgwick