In the 6th century BCE, Aesop, a Greek slave, wrote hundreds of fables using animal characters to show important moral lessons. Some of the fables you may know are: ‘The Lion Goes Hunting’, ‘The Fox and the Grapes’, ‘The Ants and the Grasshopper’, and the most famous ‘The tortoise and the Hare’. Popular sayings developed from these fables, like ‘the lion's share’, ‘sour grapes’, ‘be prepared’ and ‘slow and steady wins the race’.

However, could any of these stories really happen? In Aesop’s Animals, author Jo Wimpenny explores nine of Aesop’s fables from a biological perspective. Each chapter looks at a different fable and gives a verdict on the accuracy of the fable. If the behaviours don’t match, she chooses a new animal whose natural behaviour fits in with the story. In the fable ‘The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’, a wolf steals the wool of a sheep, and pretends to be one of the farmer's sheep herd. Wimpenny suggests apes naturally mimic other animals and behaviours, therefore an ape in sheep’s clothing is closer to biological fact.

Anyone who is looking for an interesting read, or enjoys science or animals will love Aesop’s Animals. I enjoyed the topic of this book because it was approached in a clever way, and the breaking down of each fable was fascinating to read. This book challenged classic animal stereotypes, like foolish donkeys or big bad wolves.