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Aesop’s Kiwi Fables

Many of us grew up with the charming, though sometimes brutal, Aesop’s Fables. With Aesop’s Kiwi Fables, internationally renowned New Zealand artist Ray Ching brings the fables ‘home’ in a stunning, whimsical Kiwi take on one of the world’s most enduring story collections.

In this beautifully produced hardcover book, Ray Ching’s drawing and painting skills, familiar to New Zealanders through his widely seen paintings of birds, are imaginatively engaged in an altogether new expression of Aesop’s Fables.

The stories have left their origins in Greece and ancient Europe and set off to the distant isles of New Zealand.

In Aesop’s Kiwi Fables the tales are told by the inhabitants of these islands, mostly birds, who take the place of the more traditional players; Tui are as smart as Crows, and Tuatara is as dogged as the Tortoise, to successfully win his race over Possum.

An introduction by Richard Wolfe gives an insight into the work and art of Ray Ching and a brief history of Aesop’s fables in publication.

With all 47 fables accompanied by Ray Ching’s magnificent, full colour paintings, this is a book for young and old to treasure.

$49.99 incl. GST

1 in stock

Description

Reviews

Goodreads ~ The art is beautiful. It’s awesome to see Aesop’s fables depicted and told through New Zealand flora, fauna & culture.

About the NZ-born artist

Raymond Ching’s curiously un-English sounding name is Cornish in origin, and it is from there that his family sailed for New Zealand in 1840, settling in Nelson. It was there, on the family farm, that Ray Ching was introduced to the birds and other creatures that have remained central to his art. Books on his paintings include: Raymond Ching, The Bird Paintings (1978), Studies & Sketches of a Bird Painter (1981), New Zealand Birds (1987), Wild Portraits (1988), Journey of an Artist (1990), Kiwis, A Monograph of the Family Apterygidae (1990), Voice from the Wilderness (1994). Today his home is in Bradford-on-Avon, England.

Additional information

Weight300 g
Dimensions237 × 177 cm
ISBN

9781869538453

First published

2012

Format

Hardcover edition

Page count

228

Published by

Bateman Books

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