Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics Written and illustrated by Mary Engelbreit

Recently I told my three year old daughter that we would be grinding wheat later that day. She asked, "Are we going to the miller's?"

"We are going to be the millers," I told her. My daughter chatted on about the Little Red Hen, and whether or not she would get some bread. The story of The Little Red Hen often comes in handy at my house when I need a little help with something tasty.
"Who will help me, asked the Little Red Hen?" I say. And usually, I have three willing little helpers.

Later that same day my children left their macaroni and cheese to take a walk, and let it cool down. Soon after I learned that I was Goldilocks, and I needed to run away down the window spout. (Clearly they have their own version of The Three Little Bears!)

There are some stories that seem timeless to me, and at my house The Little Red Hen and Goldilocks and The Three Bears are just such classics. Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics is very nearly perfect! I was thrilled when my daughter received this delightful book as a Christmas gift. Engelbreit created this book for very young children, so the stories are simple and short while still complete and charming. Of course you would expect the illustrations to be wonderful, and since they are from Mary Engelbreit, they really are endearing. My one complaint is that the gingerbread man doesn't get eaten up! However, perhaps this ending suits some people even better. For a sweet treasury of timeless stories made simple --I recommend this book.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What is this world coming to? First the gingerbread man escapes being eaten by the fox, next thing you know Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma will be sharing their lunch with the wolf who has repented of that horrible sin of eating Grandma.