1923 Aesop's Fables: Kroma-Paket. Kroma Paket No. 1. Pictures to Color--A New Kind of Outline Reproduction. Sandusky, OH/NY: The American Crayon Company. $18 from Lisa Bouchard, Melrose, MA, through eBay, Jan., '13.
The pictures are acknowledged as coming from The Aesop for Children with pictures by Milo Winter, published by Rand McNally & Company. The cover shows the rooster telling the fox to come up, while the "doorman" dog awaits the fox inside the tree's opening. The package includes two colored illustrations, SS and "The Cock and the Fox." This set includes five "outline sketches" still waiting to be colored in and six rather well executed by someone with crayons. "The Wolf and the Kid" may be missing, as it is indicated on one of the three sheets of specific color instructions for each outline. The child is assumed not to need instructions for the two already colored illustrations. The three added sheets are fascinating. One advertises The Aesop for Children. Another advertises "Kroma Paket Awards." A third shows "How to Use Kroma Water Colors" and "How to Use Kroma Crayons."
1994 Aesop's Fables: Kids Can Read! Interactive CD-ROM. No authors acknowledged. Illustrations after Arthur Rackham. Buffalo, NY: Kids Can Read!: Discis Knowledge Research. $4.99 from Tabo O'Connor, Mesa AZ through Ebay, Feb., '99.
Ten fables are presented with one illustration adapted from Arthur Rackham for each. One can hear the text read in English. One can also click on objects or words for names, sound effects, syllables, Spanish, or more explanation. Included are "The Crab & his Mother," FG, GA, "The Travellers & the Plane Tree," CP, DS, TMCM, "The Cat & the Birds," "The Quack Frog," and FC. Technology moves quickly enough that this disk may have some compatibility problems with computers younger than it. I had to go to "Start," "Run," and "D: install" with a double click on "Discis.exe" to get it going in my new machine.
1930? Aesop's Fables: Fly Hi. RKO Pathé. Produced by the Van Beuren Corporation. By John Foster and Harry Bailey. Synchronization by Gene Rodemich. Black-and-white eight-minute film short transcribed onto video tape for John Carlson. Gift of John Carlson, Nov., '98.
"Fly Hi" is a nice play on words, as two romantic flies say hi to each other musically over the phone, meet at her place, and then listen to music played by an insidious German-accented spider. After playing classical music for them on two pianos -- with four hands, of course -- the spider chases them, but is arrested by fly-paper. The film seems to rejoice in being a "talkie." There seems to be a simple pleasure in hearing music and voices. As the male fly goes to visit the female, the flowers and bugs along the road join in on his song. The film has nothing to do with Aesop that I can figure out!
