Not particularly helpful, but your post reminds me how much I loved these as a kid and how I'd love to have a full set. (I still have Five Peas in a Pod/Prince Ahmed and The Enchanted Princess/The House in the Forest at home.)
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
I loved this book, as have my various nieces and nephews: [link]
Scrappy, I adored the Daulaire collection: I can still see the yellow cover in my mind's eye.
For Mother Goose, we have loved the Rosemary Wells one: [link]
That's a great one, Scrappy! I had that as a kid and LOVED it, and recently bought another copy of that one and their book of Norse myths too. I definitely credit that book with instilling in me a love of mythology.
flea, thank you! That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I love Rosemary Wells, and it looks like a great collection. Perfect!
I loved this book, as have my various nieces and nephews: [link]
My nephew loved those as well.
I never know what to recommend, because most of the myths and fairy tales in my head come from Vol. 2 of Childcraft. The first two volumes of the pre-1960s Childcraft series are so wonderful, and full of great illustrators. My mother sent our set to my half-sister when her kids were young, and we learned later that most of the beloved things we sent were sold in a yard sale. My sister and I will probably never forgive either of them. The other things we volunteered to give to the kids, but we both screamed bloody murder when we found out Mom had sent off the books.
This one has fantastic art, but doesn't shy away from the violence - [link]
We also have this pop-up book, which is gorgeous [link]
The best book in the WORLD to read to toddlers/preschoolers is Press Here. You press various dots on the pages and then on the next page they've moved. Then you have to blow the background color away, and then you have to clap to see what happens, and it is SO MUCH FUN.
For the record, here is Emmett's Depressing Reading List for 10th Grade:
Black Boy
A Stone for Danny Fisher (his choice. He enjoyed it but it still was sad. [they could choose from a short list of three books for this selection])
1984
Romeo and Juliet
Lord of the Flies
Like Water for Chocolate (he ranted about how stupid this one was. "And then she eats candles so she'll feel warm inside and wraps herself in a blanket and dies. It doesn't even make any sense?!!")
Things Fall Apart
Seriously, that's pretty bleak.