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\u201cThe American Book of Fables\u201d is unlike anything else in print \u2014\u00a0or at least, that has been published in the last 200 years. At nearly 400 pages, it\u2019s a tome modeled after much leaner texts, one being \u201c<\/span>The New England Primer<\/span><\/a>,\u201d an 18th-century textbook with lessons, prayers, and hymns. The book also reflects \u201c<\/span>The Columbian Orator<\/span><\/a>,\u201d a 19th-century textbook for older readers that influenced both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s an audacious attempt, and author Matthew Mehan isn\u2019t shy about it. \u201cI really am keen to make sure people understand that this is not a children’s book,\u201d he tells The Daily Wire. \u201cThis is a family heirloom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The book draws on the Western and American literary traditions with nursery rhymes, fables, and primary texts from the Declaration of Independence to the Bible. These sections are divided up for \u201clittles,\u201d \u201cmiddles,\u201d and \u201cbigs.\u201d When I read excerpts to my four-year-old, he was entranced by the illustrations. Painter John Folley\u2019s detailed, vibrant artwork is scattered throughout, with gorgeous, two-page spreads showing off buffalo, armadillos, and the fruited plains.<\/span><\/p>\n Mehan says he\u2019s always been interested in poetry with a civic and humanistic dimension, art that helps people live well. \u201cThat attracted me to the fable tradition, which is a very important tradition for self-governing peoples,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fables, of course, offer the reader memorable stories with simple takeaways. They are usually vague and fairly universal, meaning they could take place anytime, anywhere. \u201cThe American Book of Fables\u201d changes that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The boy who cried wolf could take place anywhere boys and wolves are found, but Mehan places the story \u201con Roanoke Island, near the Outer Banks, west of Nag\u2019s Head and South of Kittyhawk, North Carolina.\u201d The boy is hired by the Bodie family (a real family), and there\u2019s a real red wolf preserve nearby.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe fable tradition is very general and universalistic, and Americans like generalities and universal principles,\u201d Mehan says. \u201cBut we also like science and detail, and we have a federal system where we really love our local people and places.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He credits Homer for the inspiration to add such detail, \u201ccarefully and humanely and lovingly naming all of the places and people.\u201d The epic poet took the effort to name dying soldiers on the battlefield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think that is a part of teaching people how to be human and love well the things that are in their care and are part of their community,\u201d Mehan says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Mehan\u2019s version of \u201cThe Boy Who Cried Wolf,\u201d which he calls \u201cgreatly adapted from Aesop,\u201d the boy\u2019s \u201ccries\u201d come from shooting off rockets, which Mehan says is an homage to more American staples: Cape Canaveral, the space race, and Kitty Hawk.<\/span><\/p>\n Sophia Institute Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fables make for easy, entertaining lessons because they\u2019re full of archetypes. There\u2019s \u201cthe irascible badger,\u201d \u201cthe languid panda,\u201d \u201cthe tyrannical lion,\u201d and \u201cthe busy beaver.\u201d Mehan\u2019s beaver is named Nikola, and, yes, that is a Tesla reference. Mehan says he\u2019s meant to represent a passion for technology that wonders whether something can be done and doesn\u2019t stop to determine whether it <\/span>should<\/span><\/i>. Returning to the theme of self-government, Mehan suggests that such a passion, which is good in moderation, must be governed properly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The book is rich with allusions to great authors and classic works, as well as its own analogies. One recurring story is that of Humanatee, a \u201cgentle, fat creature\u201d who learns lessons as he traverses the country. One purpose is to challenge the reader to think about the meaning of human nature; if the principles and rights laid out in the Declaration are real, then \u201cyou better have a really strong and robust handle on what human nature is,\u201d Mehan says. The Ciceronian conception that Mehan has in mind \u201chas everything to do with self-government and liberty, and treating people right in a way that is just, and fair, and preserves the social bonds.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This idea is important. \u201cOne of the themes of the book is to reintroduce a lot of the really wonderful moral teachings of Cicero, which were profoundly ingrained in our society until the 20th century slowly leached them out mostly by omission,\u201d Mehan adds.<\/span><\/p>\n But another theme centers on what it means to be distinctly American, living <\/span>amid the amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe country isn’t just our principles, the country is human nature engaged in a particular history, a particular experience, a particular landscape,\u201d he says. \u201cSo an engagement of humanity with all the various animals and regions of the country, was, I thought, a nice expression of the American experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2026\/05\/6912-FABLES-1-300x300.jpg\")
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