THE FAMILY TREASURY OF CHILDREN'S STORIES

I approach any ""treasury"" with misgivings, wondering what is a substitute for the richness of experience with individual books. Then I think of the children who might miss this- or that- or the other, and I know collections have their place. This is a singularly successful one. The three volumes provide riches- and though sampling from books of permanent value to take the children through open doors. There are whole stories; chapters from books; verses and well chosen passages. Vol. I- for the beginning listeners- takes them from Mother Goose through counting rhymes and riddles to Milne and Dr. Seuss and Elsa Beskow and many others. Vol. II makes sure that the allure of fairy tales old and new, fun and fantasy, legends and myths are not lost, and that stories of real children have their place -- the Bastables, Heidi, Hans Brinker; and of the animals that live- Bambi and Dr. Doolittle's friendly farm animals, Ruth Gannett's dragon, and Kenneth Grahame's river creatures....Vol. III opens a world of adventure, from Jack London to Kon Tiki; it takes one exploring with Beebe and Hudson and Fabre and others; it introduces famous people and it offers tantalizing bits from the world's great books.