The Usborne First Story Book

by Heather Amery

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

96 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

Heather Amery was born and brought up in Bath, Somerset. Heather has written over a hundred books for children, including alphabet books, science and history books, craft books, classical fairy tales, a series for beginner readers called Farmyard Tales, Usborne Bible Tales, and Greek Myths.

Reviews

[Jordan Tiley]

We’ve had a number of different collections of classic tales and this one I’ve liked for reading with our daughter (3yo). All good stories, but not too dark/heavy for little ones. A good mix of topics and themes, I find it tiresome when the whole book is the sort of “true love kiss” type stories, not the best for little girls to have a heavy diet of that. Short and concise. It’s a few decades old so a bit more traditional and no modern nonsense forced in, like I’ve seen in other collections. The illustrations are nice and simple, but nothing special.

[Andy]

I had this as a kid and found a used version in a pile for 50 cents! Oh the memories.

Comprising Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, the tales are edited down to base parts (possibly too much - Sleeping Beauty for one is somewhat disjointed and doesn't quite make sense if you really think about it - the prince who wakens her arrives at the same time her 100 year curse was due to end). Anyway.

The real joy and the reason I picked it up again is the illustrations by Stephen Cartwright. The little people are wonderfully brought to life with hugely expressive faces, wonderful composition and a joyous sense of life. As soon as I saw the book I flashed back to reading it as a kid. Sure, there may be better compilations and version out there now but if you happen to find this somewhere then pick it up.