Selections from the Flower Fables

Originally written for the daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a family friend, Louisa May Alcott charms us with the daily events in her fantasy world of flora and fauna.

By using the magical fairies as actors in nature's play, Alcott creates delightful morality plays, allowing children to easily learn the lessons of right from wrong.

The Flower Fables of Louisa May Alcott, are:
1. The Frost King, or The Power of Love
2. Little Bud
3. Annie's Dream
4. Eva's Visit to Fairyland
5. Lilly Bell and Thistledown

AUTHOR
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was an American novelist, abolitionist, Civil War nurse and feminist. Born into a family of educators, Alcott's family suffered intermittent poverty, which motivated and influenced her work.

Best know for her stories for young adults, the Little Women series, knew great success as an author during her lifetime, but died at a relatively young 55, likely from health problems stemming from her Civil War service.

COMMENTARY
Reviews for Alcazar AudioWorks' production of Selections from the Flower Fables
We do a lot of reading aloud around here, and most of it from old-fashioned books published before 1950. We also like to listen to books on tape or CD - a tireless reader who can go on, and on, and on, and all the while we can be accomplishing something else, like dishes or laundry or dusting or knitting.

Lately we've been enjoying listening to books produced by Alcazar AudioWorks. Many of these are the same old-fashioned books that are on our Charlotte Mason-inspired reading list. The readers seem to be carefully chosen to suit the material.

Selections from The Flower Fables was written by Louisa May Alcott, yes, that Louisa May Alcott, the author of the likes of Little Women, Little Men, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, and An Old Fashioned Girl, all of which we've read aloud.

If you're familiar with Little Women, you might recall that ""Jo"" loved to write thrilling tales, though her special project was a little book of fairy tales which, in the course of the story, got ""all burnt up"" when her younger sister put them in the stove after an argument.

One might imagine that Jo's tales were much what like you'd find in The Flower Fables, charming stories told in an English that would be considered stilted or considerably ""old-fashioned"" by today's reader. We're used to that language, having read a lot of Howard Pyle's writing. Admittedly, if you haven't done much reading (preferably aloud) in this sort of book, you might find the narrative a little hard to follow, or even boring.

I was glad to note, however, that the girls in our family were quickly captured by the imaginative writing being illuminated by the warm voice of the narrator. A boy, on the other hand, remarked that the tales seemed a little excessively flowery. He wasn't impressed when told that these were Flower Fables! Give him Pyle any day. (I'm wondering now if any of Pyle's works, such as Men of Iron, might be on Alcazar's list!)

In addition to the narrator, other voices ""appear"" here and there to add life to the characters. (There are a total of eight actors listed on the cover.) I like the fact that the longer stories are broken up into tracks on the CDs, making it easier to find your place and not have to backtrack too far when interrupted. Charming original music punctuates the tales.

The set includes five stories:
Little Bud
Frost King, or the Power of Love
Eva's Visit to Fairyland
Lilly Bell and Thistledown
Annie's Dream
Reviewed By: Virginia Jones - EHO Eclectic Homeschool Online

Loved it!
Where does The Flower Fables (Unabridged Selections) rank among all the audiobooks you've listened to so far?
One of my daughter's favorites!
What did you like best about this story?
Loved all the little stories.
What about Bobbie Frohman's performance did you like?
She has great voices for the characters.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
My daughter wanted to hear it all in one sitting
Listener Review - Audible.com
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