A wonderful retelling of the Aesop fable where the fox makes frequent attempts to get at the grapes until he finally says that they are probably sour anyway. Hence the expression “sour grapes”.

In this version Fox attempts to reach the grapes but because he is “sly. Clever. Smart. After all, I am a fox.” He makes a plan and “voila!…Grapes!” Except it doesn’t turn out quite that way.

First of all he harnesses the energy of the bear. Then the beaver, the porcupine, the possum, each time making the plan more and more elaborate. Each time as well, the fox ignores the suggestions of his “assistants.”

When they point out their simpler plan at the end, the fox storms off in a huff. “Well, do as you wish. I, for one, wouldn’t think of eating those lousy, rotten, stinkin’ grapes now, even if I could…They’re probably sour anyway.” (While in the foreground his assistants are joyfully eating the grapes.)

Margie Palatini, Simon and Schuster, ©2009, ISBN 978-0-689-80246-1

Create Your Own Take on Aesop

Students will enjoy using this as a model to create their own version of an Aesop fable. They can add more characters, dialogue, a twist, additional descriptions, and a setting. This story is about 1,000 words, but students can write a terrific Aesop fable in about 500 words if you wish.

The Moral of the Story

Every fable has a moral. The original moral of this story is something like, “People who can’t do something, make up reasons why they didn’t want it in the first lace.” The expression “sour grapes” is used for someone behaving this way. This fable has that moral, but has several other morals worth discussing as well:

• Don’t underestimate the help others can provide.
• Don’t overestimate your own intelligence and underestimate that of others.
• A simple plan can be better than an elaborate plan.

For 9 creative writing ideas, click Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes to download.