Fun and Nonsense (8); From Old Story Books (4); Dreams and Enchantments 99); Howard Pyle (3); Frank R. Stockton (2); Andersen (8)

Fun and Nonsense (8); From Old Story Books (4); Dreams and Enchantments 99); Howard Pyle (3); Frank R. Stockton (2); Andersen (8)

As the title suggests, this volume was part of a "children's library" in uniform buindings, each volume a collection of stories on that volume's theme. Despite being a "child's book", this particular volume includes a good percentage of stories written in what I believe is now called "bi-modal" form--meaning suited for reading by (and to) children, but also with aspects--from puns and allusions to sheer style--aimed right over the kiddie-widdie's little heads and straight at adults. Writers of note and panache, from Charles Dickens to Carl Sandburg, from A. A. Milne to Frank Stockton, provide enough droll wit to make this book well worth the enduring of the occasional platitudinous "fairy tale". I wouldn't beat the bushes furiously for a copy, but if one comes your way, don't disdain it unread.