As a child I read this book and re-read it and re-read it so many times that my hardbound copy fell apart! What more can be said for the attraction of a book?

This treasury consists of complete stories as well as excerpts from classic books such as Winnie the Pooh, the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. It has variety of genres -- Aesops fables, Grimm's fairy tales, stories from the Arabian nights, as well as more contemporary work. One of my favorites, Turn on the Night, is a great story to help soothe children who are scared of the dark.

Additionally, the book is filled with wonderful illustrations. Each story has its own style, so there is something new and interesting on each page (almost).

I highly recommend this book for good readers in the early elementary grades and for all middle grade elementary readers. I enjoyed it much longer as a child, but it is sure to be appreciated by those grades.

I can't remember a time when this book wasn't on our bookshelf in my parents' home. My father and mother took turns reading us the stories, and when I was old enough, I insisted on taking my turn to read aloud. I can't say enough good things about this collection, filled with beautiful and whimsical illustrations, exerpts from children's classics and unique stories that you may never have seen elsewhere. Many of the classic Grimm and Anderson fairy tales are presented in what is probably close to their original form (NOT P.C., but parents, don't worry - young children have an amazing capacity to absorb the grotesque without the fears that come with adolescence and adulthood). It also contains exerpts from such children's classics as "The Hobbit", "Peter Pan", "Alice in Wonderland", and "The Wind in the Willows". Another plus: the stories in this collection are not edited, re-worded, or otherwise scaled down for the young reader - a boon to those of us who understand that small children can and do learn "up" to the level of reading/conversation with which they are presented. Warning: Some of the fairy tales (like "Blue Beard") can be considered graphic and frightening - although small children may not be frightened at all due to a limited ability to absorb such imagery. Whatever you do, do NOT let the fear of a couple of gory fairy tales keep you from introducing your child to the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, Oscar Wilde, Kenneth Grahame, A.A. Milne, and Lewis Carroll.

This is my favorite book, I received it when I was 10 and now my son discovered it in the school library and has almost finished it all. It has fabulous stories for all ages.