Motivated by hunger and an empty refrigerator, a fox sets out to gather some grapes he remembers seeing in the lane. When they prove to be above his reach, the fox declares that the grapes must be sour and walks off. His hunger is abated after encountering a crow with a piece of cheese in her beak. The fox flatters her into cawing and dropping the cheese, which he quickly gobbles up. “The Fox and the Grapes” and “The Fox and the Crow” are the first two of four familiar Aesop fables linked into a single picture book story. “The Fox and the Goat” and the “The Fox and the Stork” round out the quartet, which benefits from humorous elements in both the text and the understated gouache and pencil illustrations. (Ages 3–7)

Four of Aesop's fables are combined in this tale about three animal friends who outsmart a tricky fox.