There once lived in ancient Greece a slaves who was very good at telling story. Not only were his stories entertaining, they always have morals behind them - each fable has a lesson to teach children. This man's name is Aesop, his fables have educated many generations of children for....OVER 2000 years!!!Aesop's Fables are short and fun to read; they serve as quick bedtime stories. The characters, usually animals who act and talk like human, are very appealing to children. I remember owning a Chinese version of the Aesop's Fables as a child. I would ask my daddy to read the fables over and over again; and I actually look forward to him telling me the morals behind them at the end of storytime. Some of the morals are quite complex for children as the themes usually relate to humanity (such as "Appearances are deceptive" or "Misfortunes tests the sincerity of friends"). These fables start to make sense as they grow up with personal encounters; these fables, I believe, help them find what's known as "common sense."
Aesop's Fables are usually accompanied by simple illustrations. I'd like to recommend two Aesop Fable sites to parents and children.
1) Aesop's Fables Online Collection (for parents)
This site contains over 600 Fables (and growing), some are even accompanied by an audio file. The moral behind each fable is listed clearly - which is handy information when it comes to choosing the right fable for different children.
2) Aesop's Fables by UMA (for children)
This is a recommended resource by many children site. Although it does not contain as many fables as the one above, it is more children-friendly. Illustration accompanies each fable. Another interesting feature is that a modern version of the fable is created to echo Aesop's traditional version.
There are many animated version of Aesop's fable on Youtube as well. The Lion and the Mouse used to be one of my favorite!
"Do not judge people by their appearance"
