For children and adults alike, the fables and lessons of Aesop are as familiar as nursery rhymes. The Tortoise and the Hare reminds us that “slow and steady wins the race.” The Boy Who Cried Wolf shows the consequences of lying, and the Ant and the Grasshopper teaches us the benefits of hard work before play.

Jon Scieszka (pronounced “Shesh-ka”) and Lane Smith, creators of The Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and Math Curse, have come up with their own set of fables that rival old Aesop himself.

“Squids Will Be Squids,” say the authors, “is a collection of fables that Aesop might have told if he were alive today and sitting in the back of his class daydreaming and goofing around instead of paying attention…”

From this book, the reader learns important life lessons such as “Don’t ever listen to a talking bug,” “You should always tell the truth. But if your mom is out having the hair taken off her lip, you might want to forget a few of the details,” and “Squids will be squids.”

Combined with Smith’s hilarious illustrations, Squids Will Be Squids takes fable-telling to a much higher and funnier level.