Exceedingly intriguing. Nonfiction that grips you and makes you wonder about things that you might have always taken for granted. Well worth the purchase.

A very thoroughly researched account of a handful of Aesop’s fables. The book breaks them down by animal and examines the stereotypes associated with each animal. I particularly enjoyed the section about wolves and their typical pack behaviour.

Very well written and relatively easy to read although it can get a little dry at times. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys biology or wants to look further into the actual biology behind Aesop’s fables.

Received in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

(A big thank you to NetGalley for supplying a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!)

Most of the time, reading is a solitary activity. When I started reading Aesop’s Animals by Jo Wimpenny, I quickly realized my experience with this particular book would be a bit different. Namely, I couldn’t stop reading out animal facts to my husband as I learned them.

For example, did you know the lyrebird is so great at mimicking frequently heard sounds that it can actually replicate the sounds of chainsaws with astonishing accuracy? (Watch this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y">BBC video</a> and get ready to have your mind blown. These birds can also mimic the sounds of camera shutters!)

Did you also know that a fox can hear a mouse squeak from almost 150 feet away? Or that a donkey needs only around half the calories that a similarly sized horse needs?

These are just a few of the many fascinating facts Wimpenny shares from her ample research, carried out in an effort to discover whether the animal traits the renowned storyteller Aesop assigned to his classic fables were in fact scientifically accurate. For instance, are foxes actually tricksters as they are portrayed in the fables? Are wolves bloodthirsty beasts that should be feared? Do lions embody characteristics of noble leaders like Aesop suggests?

Of course, Aesop likely didn’t set out to spout scientific studies to his audience, but Wimpenny stresses how (accurate or not) the animals’ traits expressed in Aesop’s famous fables have become engrained in our culture. They’ve often shaped our own opinions about certain animals and our reactions to them.

If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis of Aesop or his fables, you’ll want to look elsewhere. Rather, this book provides just a brief summary of a fable in a few paragraphs at the beginning of each chapter. The rest of the chapter is dedicated to studies of the selected animal’s characteristics and behaviors both in the wild and in the lab.

While you might initially think reading about scientific studies is incredibly dry, Wimpenny does an excellent job of presenting the material in a manner that bypasses most of the technical jargon. I appreciated the in-depth research that went into the book, as well as the inclusion of the author’s own experiences with wild animals.

If you’re fascinated by cute, startling, or purely mystifying animal behavior, go out and buy this book! It’s a lot like reading an episode of Planet Earth. Just let your housemates know to expect animal fact updates every few minutes as you make your way through the book…

I thought the set-up for this book provided an intriguing and readable frame. Wimpenny selects nine of Aesop's fables - some as familiar as "The Hare and The Tortoise" and others that were new to me like "The Ants and The Grasshopper" (maybe because of a lifelong aversion to bugs?). First relaying the fable, the author then breaks it down. Sometimes the animals highlighted - like in the "The Crow and the Pitcher" - have pretty much proven that the facts behind the fable. Crows and many other corvids are clever enough to use tools and Wimpenny provides examples of many experiments that show this behavior. In other instances, Wimpenny suggests alternate animals that would perhaps be a more likely animal to describe the behaviors described in the fables.

Using recent studies, research and observations made both in the field and the lab, a pretty wide range of animal facts are included here. While some of the studies references are ones that I was already familiar with from other books on animal cognition and behavior, there are still some that were completely new to me covered here. I think the frame serves well to narrow down the subject matter - though some chapters felt like they meandered just a bit more in the explanation for an apt animal to display the story added in some cases some redundancies. I think it would have been tighter to narrow in on the animals mentioned in the fables only... but I still really enjoyed this one!

This is an outstanding book with great insights into the behavior of the animals in several of Aesop's fables. In each chapter, she lines up whether the actual animal lines up with Aesop's depiction. If not, what animal would be a better candidate.

Zoology as Seen Through Fable
We read Aesop’s Fables as children or re-read them aloud to our children. Their lessons resonate today. But how accurate are the depictions of the animals in the fables? Can crows add pebbles to a pitcher to raise the water level? Are wolves cruel and rapacious, foxes wily, or donkeys stubborn and stupid? Could a tortoise beat a hare in a race?

“Aesop’s Animals: The Science behind the Fables,” by Jo Wimpenny, looks at the answers to those questions. Wimpenny, a zoologist turned writer approaches the answers through the lens of modern zoology.

In individual chapters she uses nine different Aesop Fables featuring animals as a springboard, examining the behavior of these animals and related species. In addition to the creatures previously mentioned, she also looks at dogs, lions, monkeys, and insects (The Ants and the Grasshopper). Each chapter is an excursion studying the behavior and history of the featured species.

A chapter contains several strands. Wimpenny presents the featured fable. She then dissects it, comparing the actual behavior of the highlighted animals to their behavior in the fable. Along the way, she presents the animals’ histories. She shows how dogs became the species most closely associated with humans, why lions are the only social feline among the large cats, and how and why donkeys differ from horses.

Several fables are surprisingly accurate. Crows are clever enough to put pebbles into a pitcher to raise the water level. “Monkey see, monkey do” is a phrase describing actual monkey behavior. (Wimpenny documents several monkey studies which showed how monkeys learned from each other or humans.) Animals do react to their reflections.

The fables also contain inaccuracies. Wimpenny shows how wolves get a bad rap in the fables. Nor does it matter whether a grasshopper saves up for the winter or not. It dies after a year regardless.

Wimpenny goes beyond looking at animals. “Aesop’s Animals” is also a study of zoology and its scientists. She presents the methods used by zoologists and examines the controversies, contentions, and different approaches used both today and over time. It is as incisive a study of human behavior as of animal behavior.

“Aesop’s Animals” is a delightful book. Wimpenny approach is whimsical and amusing, but it is also fact-filled and highly readable. She is as accurate as she is entertaining. And yes, Wimpole does show how a tortoise could win a race with a hare.

“Aesop’s Animals: The Science behind the Fables,” by Jo Wimpenny, Bloomsbury Sigma, 2021, 368 pages, $28.00 (Hardcover), $9.99 (ebook)

This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I am not sure what I expected but this book was different but better. While the stories of Aesop provide a foundation for the each section, they are there mainly as the launching pad for a look at the progress humans have made in understanding animal behaviour. It is not looking at them in an anthropomorphic way but as they really are. And it is quite a revelation.

It turns out Aesop was accurate many times but in the case of the wolf, as an example, he was way off base, much to the detriment of the wolf. Sadly cast as the villain for centuries, it is only now, as we begin to look at them objectively, we discover they are quite magnificent and noble, even if they are the closest relative to a dog. (I am a cat after all). Primates (of the non-human variety) and birds get lots of attention as do various bugs but my favourites had to be the fox and the donkey. I loved learning more about them and in the process found them to be both fascinating and wonderful.

It does tend to go fairly deeply into the science at times, but then, it is a book about the science behind the stories. If the reader is not there already, I am sure it will stimulate a desire to learn more. Still it is highly readable and I enjoyed it very much. Five purrs and two paws up.

What an amazing book. I have often wondered how well the animals in Aesop's fables actually matched real life animal's behavior. Jo Wimpenny, a zoologist, has written a detailed account of the animals and how they fare in comparison and, due to studies over the past century or so, but especially the past 35 or so, how these animal's brains work. It' s nice to read more about studies I have encountered throught the years . Some of the science was beyond my ken, but interesting to read. I always knew animals were smarter that humans gve them credit for!
Great book!

Reading Aesop's Animals by Jo Wimpenny was such an absolute pleasure. I love the way that Wimpenny was able to weave the stories of Aesop's Fables with scientific fact, and I really appreciate that she wrote about science in a way that was approachable and understandable for everyone. I thought the personal anecdotes really tied everything together beautifully, and Wimpenny really felt like a friend by the time I was done reading the book because of the warmth of her tone and the breadth of her storytelling abilities.

I think this is a great book for people who have a variety of interests, including science, history, literature, and fantasy. It contains elements of so many things that I love, and it felt like the perfect thing to read a few chapters at a time in the morning to start my day with curiosity and nostalgia. I cannot recommend it enough.

Aesop's Animals is an interesting book that approaches Aesop's Fables from a very unique and fresh perspective, focusing on animal behavior as it relates these familiar tales. The author blends science and folklore with a literary writing style that will engage readers who are fans of both genres, while also making it interesting for more general readers.

Aesop’s Animals is an interesting layman accessible nonfiction look at the potential truth behind the fables written by zoologist Dr. Jo Wimpenny. Due out 2nd Nov 2021 from Bloomsbury on their Sigma imprint, it's 368 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats (ebook available now).

The author has selected 9 different fables and examined them through the lens of zoology and related science. Each of the tales is retold in an abbreviated form and then explored in the context of scientific relation and behavior. The author references current and past research and observation and relates it to each of the 9 stories. This is not an academic treatise. There are no chapter notes or footnotes. The language is layman accessible and more narrative than precise. The book does include an abbreviated and helpful bibliography and index.

Four stars. The author writes with style and humor and tries (and succeeds) to make the read minimally pedantic. I can well imagine that she's a talented and popular lecturer.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I like to read about animal research so I really found this interesting. I was familiar with a few of the studies Wimpenny writes about, but most were new to me. Her premise is she takes a few of Aesop's most well-known fables (the tortise and the hare; the ants and the grasshopper; the dog and the crow, etc.) and tells us what we know about how these animals actually behave and how closely the fable reflects reality. I think you'll know from reading this description whether this book is for you. 5-stars from me.

This book is as original as it is fascinating, taking a scientific look at Aesop’s fables. Every kid knows how slow and steady wins the race but, would a tortoise really be able to beat a hare in a race? The author really answers that question, based on decades of animal cognition studies. Are foxes really wily? Are wolves deceptive? Do ants really plan for the future or is there another species that would fit the ant and the grasshopper fable? Most of these questions can’t be answered, but Wimpenny presents her theories and backs them up with facts using biology, behavioral experiments and some theories that have not been proven yet. In the afterword, she says that she hopes readers will share some of the facts in the book with other people. I must say that my 8 year old niece simply loved all the facts about horses and started conducting little experiments during her riding lessons. This book is perfect for animal lovers.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/#Bloomsbury Sigma!

Science geeks, book nerds, animal lovers all gather 'round, Aesop's Animals is the science book we've been waiting for! In this book, the cunning fox, the determined turtle, and many more classic tropes are challenged by science.

With each chapter Jo Wimpenny presents one of Aesop's well-loved fables and poses the question: is this animal's behavior based on fact, or merely an example of creative liberty? Wimpenny presents oodles of facts and case studies relevant to each animal's behavior in question.

Though at times perhaps too extensive for casual reading, Aesop's Animals is a trove of scientific information to be enjoyed by researchers and laymen alike.

One of my favourite courses in my first year of university back in the 80’s was Ethology — as I remember it, it was a broad look at animal behaviours and how they mirrored or illuminated human behaviour — and to my delight, Aesop’s Animals: The Science Behind the Fables reads very much like an introductory textbook to that course. Zoologist Jo Wimpenny, prompted by the anthropomorphised characteristics attributed to the animals in eight of Aesop’s fables, examines, through the recounting of years of animal behaviour experiments, whether or not these are true characteristics (Is a fox a sly manipulator? Is a donkey stupid? Can a dog be fooled by its own reflection?). Filled with fascinating quotes, experiment results, and animal facts, I found myself an eager student once more; a thoroughly satisfying experience.

As I've mentioned, I'm an absolute sucker for books that weave science and mythology - in this case fables.

I also love books about animal behavior - way outside my scientific expertise area, but I love when people examines how we understand and appreciated animal intelligence, and then talks about how we all use stories to communicate. I also love when authors successfully make science interesting and accessible, and that's where Wimpenny shines - the writing is so strong, clear, and translates pretty complicated scientific concepts without being derailed by jargon and inaccessible terms. Using fables as a connection point I think is also a really smart way of making this area shine - how we think about animal vs human intelligence is a really fascinating concept, especially when contextualized within fables.

Completely well done, will widely recommend this for sure.

ARC from the publisher via NetGalley

A fascinating and educational read. I was familiar with most of the fables mentioned in the book but some were not known.

Aesop's Animal by Jo Wipenny

Who hasn't read Aesop's books as a child!
Have you ever wondered the background/story of what is fiction or not?!
The author gives factual info behind the stories.
Brings me back to my childhood and all the answers to your questions!

I received and Reviewed this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review on Netgalley, Goodreads Librarything Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Thank you to the author and publishers for allowing me to read this book!

This book Aesops Animals: The science behind the fables by Jo Wimpenny is an amazing scientific book.
It is very thorough in studying can animals actually perform the trials like in Aesops beloved tales. Or is it something else entirely. With data collected from tests and research Jo Wimpenny goes through extensively well told with documents to match and commentaries ideals and tales. Her point of view and a comparative on others plus its studies and counterpoints. I really appreciate this book and its thoroughness plus I also loved Aesop Animals and what inspired the author to write this. It also tugged at some heartstrings at certain points.

Definitely worth picking up! Also what do you think animals can do?
This Arc was given to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.