The World Treasury of Children's Literature: Books I & II

by Clifton Fadiman

Clifton Fadiman can remember to this day the wonder that he felt as a child when he opened a book and found "a surprise package stuffed with things I had no idea ever existed." 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), 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. And there are wonderful stories by:
-Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon)
-Jean de Brunhoff (The Story of Babar the Little Elephant)
-Marie Hall Ets (Play with Me)
-Robert McCloskey (Make Way for Ducklings)
-H.A. Rey (Curious George)
-Ezra Jack Keats (Hi, Cat)
-Judith Viorst (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day)
-Else Holmelund Minarik (A Kiss for Little Bear)
-Wanda G'ag (The Funny Thing)
-Tomi Ungerer (The Three Robbers)
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).
Readers will also meet some of the best-loved characters in children’s literature in:
* The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
* The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren
*Amos and Boris by William Steig
* The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
* Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car by John Burningham
* Eeyore Has a Birthday and Gets Two Presents by A.A. Milne
* The Stupids Step Out by Harry Allard
* The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
* “Paddington Goes Underground,” from A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.
Designed so that readers can dip into the two books anywhere and find something delightful and entertaining, The World Treasury of Children’s Literature is one of the finest anthologies of its kind ever published. It is a collection that will be read and reread by everyone, who, like Clifton Fadiman, is still in awe of “the miracle of language.”

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Poetry, Classics, Fantasy, Short Stories, Reference

629 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.

Reviews

[W.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have littles, the two volumes in this set are worth seeking out. I don't know what miracle cleared the rights to reproduce all these children's classics in these books (even Sendak!), but you're saving hundreds of dollars and getting most of the books in their complete form. And the art plates and color reproductions are just about perfect. These can be found on Abebooks at great prices. I found both volumes in a thrift store for just over a dollar each. These are quality hardcovers.

[Margaret Chind]

The Tipton County Library has Book I and Book II, these are two separate books, but their identifying information lists them as two copies of the same book.

BOOK I

Nursery Rhymes
English Nursery Rhymes
Danish Nursery Rhymes
Chinese Nursery Rhymes
Aesop's Fables
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
Androcles
The Fox and the Crane A Russian Fable

Poetry

A Norse Myth Thor and Loki and the Giants' City

Three Greek Myths King Midas
Theseus
The Golden Fleece

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
Johnny Crow's Garden by L. Leslie Brooke
Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Little Toot on the Grand Canal by Hardie Gramatky
The Husband Who Was to Mind the House by P.C. Asbjornsen and Jorgen E. Moe
A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss
A Visit from Saint Nicholas by Clement C. Moore
The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
Issun Boshi, The Inchlins retold by Momoko Ishii
Hi, Cat! by Ezra Jack Keats

Poetry

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Talking Cat by Natalie Savage Carlson from The Talking Cat and Other Stories of French Canada
Curious George by H.A. Rey
The Funny Thing by Wanda Gág

Improbable Records compiled by Quentin Blake and John Yeoman

The Letter by Arnold Lobel
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow
Frederick by Leo Lionni
A Kiss for Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

English Fairy Tales
The Three Bears
The Three Little Pigs
Mr. Miacca
Whittington and His Cat
The Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer
The Bear on the Motorcycle by Reiner Zimnik

BOOK II

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think this volume is in print anymore, so if you find a copy snatch it up!

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.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of children's literature from lots of different sources, including nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fables, myths, and illustrated board and picture books. Although the illustrations in this aren't as full-paged or ornate as in the source books, this is a great reference for which illustrated nursery rhyme/fable collections and other illustrated children's books to seek out. A very cool book.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection of all kinds of children's literature, from poems by Ogden Nash and William Blake to stories by Beatrix Potter and Isaac Asimov. It could be read and read again for years. There are poems and stories for very young children and for teenagers. It is sprinkled with charming pen and ink drawings of characters and animals. It is high quality literature.

[Miki Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could own only one children’s book, this would be it. It holds all the classic nursery rhymes and a plethora of the classics tales (from Little Bear, to Ferdinand, to Frog and Toad, to The Little Engine That Could) from all around the world. I own all three volumes and treasure them dearly; they make the PERFECT baby shower gift.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 5 out of 5]

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...

[A. Nixon]

Another book from my childhood. It's a collection with volume II as well. Flipping through brings back all sorts of memories, from William Steig to The Story of Ferdinand. My favourite, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Story about Ping. It's all the things you love about kid-hood, in one book.

[Tara]

so far I recognized a few nursery rhymes but still got a lot of pages to go.

[Crystal]

i have always love the stories in the books & know i share them w/ my children.

[علی رضا]

china