My First Book of Nursery Tales: Five Favorite Stories

Source: barnesandnoble.com via TheFishie's on Pinterest

My First Book of Nursery Tales: Five Favorite Stories is a book of classic fairy tales retold by Marianna Mayer and illustrated by William Joyce. I don't recall whether I had this book as a child or not, but published in 1983 (about the time when I was still being read nursery rhymes and fairy tales) these are the versions of the stories I remember. In this book are: The Three Little Pigs, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Little Red Hen, Gingerbread Man, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. While you would think my favorite would be Goldiloks, I think the Little Red Hen was the most well done. It not only contains a clear lesson--don't be lazy and expect to be handed something, but it also features everyday ordinary characters and memorable lines. Deceptively plain on the outside, this book has some quite nice illustrations in warm, muted colors. Ranging in length from 6-11 pages, I can see it being easy to roll through this book in a single evening or two with your little one. I read it over 3 evenings. Highly recommended!

Source: Library Book