No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~Aesop's Fables

Aesop's Fables Tiles, Edward Detmold

The Classics were a Victorian thing, even for children. Edward Detmold illustrated many of Aesop's Fables (Aesop,a Greek storyteller, lived from 620 B.C. to 564 B.C.). These were well-known to Victorian children and adults alike, and a child could reasonably be expected to know the corresponding story by heart.

The original illustrations were black and white. I've adapted these to a dark blue on white, darker than a Victorian Blue and closer to Cobalt. This is in keeping with the Victorian love of Blue and white Delftware and Chinese blue and white porcelain, whose blues also varied in color. As an irrelevant but interesting aside, both William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti were collectors of blue and white china.

Why I like these so much: I can see picking the bed-time story from these tiles, and as the story becomes more familiar, having the story told back to me. Although I've listed a single story, several stories feature each animal. For example, there are 28 Fox fables.

Pricing and Specifications for Edward Detmold Aesop's Fables

Title: Aesop's Fables (9 ceramic tiles)

Size: 4.25 inch and 6 inch square tiles

4.25 inch square tiles: $49

6 inch square tiles: $58