Customer Reviews

The Random House Children's Treasury: Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes & Nonsense Verse

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Although it's a large and heavy book, this is the best of its kind. Many of the selections were transcribed from more academic anthologies such as Andrew Lang's colored Fairy Books, but it's BEAUTIFULLY illustrated and has all the most famous fairy tales, including Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Pied Piper, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, The Fisherman and his Wife, The Three Little Pigs, Beauty and the Beast, The Gingerbread Man, The Brave Little Tailor, Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, The Emperor's New Clothes, Hansel and Gretel, The Golden Goose, Rumpelstiltzkin, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, some of the Arabian Nights tales, and much more. Plus it has a few of the most well known of Aesop's Fables, such as The Hare and the Tortoise, and the most well known nursery rhymes, such as The Three Little Kittens, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Jack and Jill, etc. The only major fairy tale they left out, I felt, was The Little Match Girl (Hans Christian Andersen's crowning achievement, with The Little Mermaid). But if you're hunting for a book with the greatest assortment of WELL KNOWN fairy tales and nursery rhymes, look no further.

After an exhausting hunt though Amazon, the library and the bookstore I found this 'treasure'. I thought I would end up with three or four separate books to get what I wanted - fairy tales, mother goose rhymes and Aesop fables. Whew! They are in here. The style is kept in fairy traditional and only updated when needed. There are graphics on every page making enjoyable for young readers or listeners.

This book is beautiful to be read to children and the illustrations are fascinating. This is a must-have for all parents!

I love the book and purchased (2). they are for my 2 nieces that are having babies. It will be enjoyed for years to come and provide the children with good memories having this book read to them

We bought this book last year when our son was 4, but looking at some of the illustrations (which were too scary), we kept it on the shelf. The problem is not so much the illustrations (which are great), but that with a sometimes small illustration sitting in a sea of words, the child is forced to only look at the frightening graphic for a long time (such as the giant -- a fanged cyclops -- from Jack and the Beanstalk crashing to earth while holding a spiked club). We've since read some of the nursery rhymes, but wanted to read some classics, like Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks, etc. Last night, I read Tom Thumb to my son. It features King Arthur, Queen Mab (the fairy queen) and Merlin, so the magical qualities (I thought) should delight him. Within moments, Tom is baked in a pudding, nearly eaten by a cow, grabbed by a bird, swallowed by a giant, vomited into the sea and eaten by a fish (twice), released by King Arthur's cook, knighted, picked up and returned by the Fairy Queen to Arthur (but drops from the wind into Arthur's wine and is sentenced to death for treason), tossed in a river, chased by a cat, falls out of grace with a new queen, sentenced to death again, escapes on a butterfly but is trapped in a mousetrap, and is finally killed by a spider.

My son said, "Never. Read. That. Again."

My biggest beef comes from Random House's use of "Children's Treasury" in the title, where "The Random House Treasury of Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes, & Nonsense Verse" would have been spot on. As a collection of classics, the book is great. Well organized, well illustrated, and pretty complete. Now, I love the wicked cruelty bits (such as that found in the Brothers Grimm) just as much as the magical bits when the stories can be viewed as allegory or metaphor, but this book is now moved into my home office, and I will be searching for the "sanitized" re-tellings of the classics. Later, my son can learn the true stories, but for now, as he continues to learn about story structure, a happy ending (even when it's not the true version) means more to me than the faithful reproduction of 16th and 17th century works.

This is a great book with real Nursery Rhymes. Great pictures, for children to enjoy, and not illustrated to frighten children with graphic dark images. A wonderful book to snuggle up with children and read to them and instill the desire to read in the future.

My father used to read this book in a prior version to me more than 30 years ago. I LOVED it back then and I love it now, even though I have no children. I think no child show grow up without knowing all the nursery rhymes in here. My husband thinks I am crazy with the nursery rhymes I tell him but I have this book to back me up that they weren't created in my head.

I love this book! It reminds me if a very old book my grandparents used to have. I'm glad I got this book, because it is out of print now. The pictures illustrating the stories are a little more modern, but there are some that remind me of the old book my grandparents used to read us!

The illustrations in this book are too scary and dark for my 4-year old son.

My poor baby...2 months and still no stories. The vendor has delayed shipping the item 3 times now, and I finally cancelled the order...Do not order this book, although the book may be great, you will never know, as the publisher will keep delaying publication while it collects your money and waits for enough money to make money....Amazon is also no help in this matter, I am going to Barnes and Noble or Borders, this is Bullsh$%!