Book Review: Mansfield ISD’s Fabulous Fables

by Laura Seewoester

The illustrated book Fabulous Fables is comprised of short stories all written by the children of Mansfield ISD.

Each elementary school in Mansfield ISD either held a contest or worked together to submit a story for their school. The only requirements were that the main character had to be the school's mascot and that there had to be an overall moral.

All of the stories are really adorable, and some of them even surprised me with a level of maturity I don't usually attribute to elementary school kids. "Spencer and Sparky" (Cora Spencer Elementary) is a story about two horses of different breeds who become friends, even though the rest of the horses at school only hang out with their own breeds. One line reads "Once the other horses saw how much fun Spencer and Sparky were having, they wanted diversity in their lives also." Love it.

Each story has engaging characters and quirky, but important, morals to them. This is an excellent little read for children and adults alike, and the illustrations, done by Vuthy Kuon, are a perfect match for each fable.

My favorite morals out of the book are: "Know that you are great, just don't say it all the time", "Be nice to everybody, no matter what kind of horse they are" and "Don't eat too fast."

Each book is for sale for $15.95, and proceeds benefit the participating schools. On the back of the book, each participating student’s name is listed.

Pick up a copy at a Mansfield ISD school near you.