Picturebook Adaptations of Aesop Fables: An Analysis of Morrison and Pinkney’s Adaptations of Three Classic Tales

Abstract

This article examines the reconstruction of human foibles in picturebook adaptations of three popular Aesop’s fables: “The Ants and the Grasshopper”, “The Lion and the Mouse”, and “The Hare and the Tortoise”. Adopting adaptation and globalectics perspectives, the author illustrates how social hierarchy is deconstructed in these fables where the authors use anthropomorphic animals to moralize about the human condition. Thus, although the adaptations reiterate lessons from the original source material, they deliberately undermine and/or expand the lessons by integrating sociocultural signifiers that situate Black aesthetics at the core of the narratives. The article examines six picturebook adaptations by award-winning artists, Toni and Slade Morrison, and Jerry Pinkney.