Week 6 Extra Credit Reading: Aesop for Children

This post will cover part A of Aesop for Children by Milo Winter.

The Eagle and the Jackdaw, from Laura Gibbs

• I like how each story has a very simple sentence that directly states the moral of the story. 
• I think the main difference between these stories and something like the Jataka tales is that not even the "good" characters are innocent of making mistakes or giving into their ego. As best I can tell, the smart animal always wins even if they might not deserve it. That seems to be the overarching moral, regardless of of the individual details of each story. 
• I think another key element to these stories is to not over extend yourself trying to be nice or to not overestimate your own abilities, even if the stories don't always end badly for the characters who do this. 
• Another difference from the Jataka tales, as I have mentioned in previous reading notes, is what I feel to be a lack of animal archetypes. For instance, no animal is always good or evil. I think this is a more realistic look at human personalities than the Jataka tales, but maybe it is harder to understand and more confusing for children or younger audiences. 
• Some of these are lessons that I feel belong more in The Art of War than a children's book. For instance: "Do not let flattery throw you off your guard against an enemy." But some like "Always stop to think whether your fun may not be the cause of another's unhappiness" are clearly simple anti bullying messages. 
• There does appear to be an exception to the lack of archetype rule I stated early, and that is the Donkey. The author must have hated Donkeys because they are always stupid, stubborn, and lazy in these stories. 
• The Travelers and the Sea may be the darkest story I have read this semester. "Do not let your hopes carry you from reality" is something that can be hard to swallow at the best of times. 

Thanks for reading along with me.