The Story

María Goyri's Fábulas y cuentos en verso isn’t one long tale—it’s a parade of bite-sized verses, each a little snapshot wrong turned right. Think age-old fables like "The Fox and the Stork," but also Goyri’s original inventions. A raven steals a piece of cheese, a farmer gets duped by a peasant—the classic power moves and backfires. These 30 or so poems mimic the warm, funny heart of nursery rhymes, with sharp fangs hidden underneath.

Why You Should Read It

Go grab your childhood copy of Aesop and stick it next to Goyri. See how she flips the script—her mix is biting and just cheeky enough to make you stop mid-page. I loved the one where a lady lioness outwits the hunter-king and leaves him holding his boot by the wrong strap. It’s proof that these tiny gems aren’t just about staying out of trouble—they teach that trouble’s always looking for a new way to bite. Goyri doesn’t pour the moral hammer down, she laughs at their (and our) stumbles instead. Also, the Spanish. Oh my god, the rhyme and rhythm are so precise (if you read it in Spanish)—every foot counts.

Final Verdict

Put it on your shelf if you love poetry, snappy retold myths, or learning for fun—like taking a secret, archiac history quiz, only delightfull. Perfect during a lunch break read. Also great for studying language craft. It hands back the lost mood of fables that’s been sterilized by generations of heavy parenting. And total respect goes out to María Goyri, the first Spanish woman to officially enroll in higher university—but the book never let her journey (heroic or otherwise) overpower the brevity and bite of story itself. Unsuck, re-read it to your bored nephews—you’ll thank her.