Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics [Hardcover]

Mary Engelbreit (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2008 | Age Level: 1 and up

Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Little Red Hen, and nine other tales are brought to life in this superb treasury. The delightful characters will become storyland friends for life for children who meet them here. Just wait until your child sees the Giant's expression as he cries, "Fee, fi, fo, fum," or the adorable Elves dancing in the Shoemaker's cottage! The Ginger-bread Boy's candy buttons and the dazzling feathers of the Ugly Duckling are among the many inviting details to discover with each new look.

A collection of nursery tales so child friendly, rewarding, and full of fun could only have come from the rich and playful imagination of Mary Engelbreit.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K—Engelbreit brings her trademark sunny style to this collection of 12 tales and successfully walks the line between adapting the stories for a preschool audience and watering them down. The world that these characters inhabit vibrates with bright colors, friendly animals, and buildings and woods of the timeless fairy-tale variety. Scary things happen, but only to the bad guys, and only offstage. Jack's giant dies falling from the beanstalk and Gretel pushes the witch into the oven, but the Big Bad Wolf escapes the woodcutter with only a scolding after he lets Red Riding Hood and her grandmother out of his stomach unharmed. Even the Gingerbread Boy eludes the fox and keeps on running at the end of the story. The artist portrays two of the three little pigs as female, as are the posh city mouse and her homely country cousin. The humorous expressions of the characters (see Goldilocks sinking into Mama Bear's super-soft bed for a laugh) and the lines of text incorporated into the illustrations are classic Engelbreit touches. This cheery collection will appeal to the artist's fans, as well as to anyone looking for not-too-scary versions of old favorites for young children.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
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Review

“The humorous expressions of the characters and the lines of text incorporated into the illustrations are classic Engelbreit touches. This cheery collection will appeal to the artist’s fans, as well as to anyone looking for not-too-scary versions of old favorites for young children.” (School Library Journal )

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060731680
• ISBN-13: 978-0060731687
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Anthologies

More About the Author

Mary Engelbreit's aphorisms and artwork appear on millions of greeting cards. Her popularity continues to grow due to the success of her books, calendars, home decor, stationery, and crafting products. She resides in St. Louis, Missouri.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I have been looking for!, January 29, 2009

By 

Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics (Hardcover)

I really wanted to get my daughter a special collection of fairy tales for Christmas, and had a hard time finding just what I wanted---stories aimed at preschoolers, with the basic elements of each tale intact but without the most scary parts (I'm not opposed to those, just not for little little ones!),and with not too many words on each page, with lively and many illustrations and with my favorite stories included. I got it all in this treasury!

I am not a collector of Englebreit books as some people are---I like her drawings pretty well, but I wouldn't call myself a huge fan. However, she is perfect for this collection! The pictures are bright and cheerful and detailed, and really add to each story.

The stories include the basics I love---The Three Little Pig, Goldilocks, Jack in the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, The Little Red Hen and more. They are told at just the right pace for a preschooler, and are nice versions.

I'm really glad to have this book, and to highly recommend it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not like the "real" tales, January 4, 2010

By 

Jaymary (Tehachapi, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics (Hardcover)

The stories are quite nice, but if you want your kid to know the original versions for example with the wolf that actually gobbles Grandma and Little Red Ridinghood up and dies at the end, because they put rocks in his belly and he falls into the well and drowns, then this book is not the one for you....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent versions, great illustrations, December 21, 2008

By 

Lawrence M. Sanger (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics (Hardcover)

We picked this as an afterthought and found it to be a delightful surprise. The selection of classic fairy tales, from Grimm and Anderson, is excellent--not a bad story in the lot. Our little boy asked to read all of the stories, and requested some several times. What is great about the stories is that, on the one hand, they are somewhat condensed over some versions you may have encountered, while on the other hand, they are told in a very engaging way. I should mention that the stories are also made even more harmless than they are often made. The Gingerbread Boy isn't eaten by the fox; he barely escapes, which our boy seemed to think was a nice change. And while the Big Bad Wolf does gulp up Granny and Little Red Riding Hood, the woodcutter doesn't kill the wolf, etc., he merely gives him a good scolding, and that does the trick. This isn't done out of some stupid bowdlerization of the tales. Instead, as the introduction says, Engelbreit is "an artist of kindliness and comfort"--something our little boy definitely responded to. This is the best collection of simple fairy tales for a young preschooler we've yet found.