Squids Will Be Squids by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

From the same duo that brought you The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, is the book Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables  published in 1998.

This fun book has a fable for our times along with a moral on each page. Jon tells us about Aesop and his fables and how important it is to change the person you are telling the story about to an animal and to also change their names.

The book begins with a grasshopper who wants to go out to play and tells his mom he only has a little bit  of homework, but later that night when Mom sees the assignment, she freaks because it says, "Rewrite twelve Greek myths as Broadway musicals, Write music for songs. Design and build all sets. Sew original costumes for each production."

There is an elephant who never learns that you shouldn't take advice from talking insects, and a slug who fails to pay attention and gets flattened by a steam roller.

As always, Jon Scieszka uses humor to suck the child into his story. Lane Smith's illustrations are fun with details that add to the story.

This would be a great book to use in a classroom when sharing Aesop's fables. Children could also write their own fables using a moral and turning folks into bugs or animals, and as we are reminded in this book - always change the names, always!