The World Treasury of Children's Literature: Book I & II SET [B0892]

1984 HCDJ, a 2-volume set in nice clean condition. Clifton Fadiman's lifelong love affair with books, which began at the age of four, is evident in this splendid anthology, which gives young children--and adults who can still summon up the child in themselves--a chance to explore the riches of books that will entertain, amuse, sadden, delight, mystify, and astonish. International in scope, covering countless countries, and handsomely illustrated (often with the original art and sometimes in color), the 140 selections in The World Treasury of Children's Literature represent the finest traditional and modern favorites. Book I has Mother Goose rhymes, as well as rhymes from Hungary, Denmark and China; ancient Norse and Greek myths; Aesop's fables; English fairy tales, including The Story of the Three Bears and Whittington and His Cat; and verse by Robert Louis Stevenson, Hilarie Belloc, and Dennis Lee.

Continuing the parade of children's favorites that began in the first book, the beautifully illustrated companion volume opens with Gunter Spang's marvelous The House in Sunflower Street and ends with the modern classics Where the Wild Things Are and Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak. In between there are fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, including Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and Rumpelstiltskin; nonsense verse and limericks by Edward Lear, and wonderfully illustrated stories by Mitsumasa Anno (The King's Flower) and Dr. Seuss (And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street) - and much more!

From Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "This treasury is one of the best collections of classic and modern children's literature anywhere. It's got everything from Edward Lear and Aesop to Maurice Sendak and Astrid Lindgren, complete with original illustrations. The editor's introductions to authors and genres are simply delightful and invite children to consider various aspects of the stories and their use of language. Poems and fables are interspersed between full-length books. I loved this set as a kid, and my toddlers want me to read from it all day now. It's now a favorite on the bookshelf."; "The World's Treasury of Children's Literature is perfect fodder for bedtime reading. There are nursery rhymes, complete books, and even fables. Beverly Cleary, Dr. Seuss, Arnold Lobel, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Judith Viorst, H. A. Rey, and A.A. Milne to name a few. I bet just reading those names made you smile. Some of the stories were new to me but most were old friends that were just plain soothing to revisit and left me with a smile on my face as I drifted off into dreamland. What more could you ask for? More? There was Keats, Robert McCloskey, Beatrix Potter, The Brothers Grimm...oh, I could go on..."; ""