The Book of Children's Classics

by Don Freeman, Ludwig Bemelmans, Beatrix Potter

Hardcover treasury of classic characters; Classics Corduroy, Ferdinand, Pippi Longstocking, Madeline, Matilda, Peter Rabbit and more

Book

Genres: Childrens, Classics

375 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Don Freeman was a painter, printmaker, cartoonist, children's book author, and illustrator. He was born in San Diego, California, attended high school in Missouri, and later moved to New York City where he studied etching with John Sloan.
Frequent subjects included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. He was also a jazz musician, and the brother of circus entrepreneur Randy Freeman.

Reviews

[mayayayayaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept seeing stuff about Pippi Longstocking, the other book I was reading had a whole chapter on her and as I was cleaning out my room I found this book and saw it had Pippi Longstocking so decided to read it all............. each book is prefaced by a historical tidbit and those were interesting

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading all these beautiful children’s classics that I grew up with as a girl to my girl!

[Smith Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read (to my child) The Book of Children’s Classics (1997) by Various Authors.

Contents:
1. Corduroy / from Corduroy by Don Freeman --
2. Ferdinand / from The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, ill. by Robert Lawson --
3. Pig Pig / from Pig Pig Gets a Job by David McPhail --
4. Madeline / from Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans --
5. Miss Rumphius / from Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney --
6. Peter Rabbit / from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter --
7. Winnie-the-Pooh / from Winnie-the-Pooh and Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne --
8. Fudge / from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume --
9. Homer Price / from Homer Price by Robert McCloskey --
10. Sam Gribley / from My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George --
11. Pippi Longstocking / from Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, ill. by Michael Chesworth --
12. Encyclopedia Brown / from Encyclopedia Brown and The Case of the Secret Pitch by Donald J. Sobol, ill. by Leonard Shortall --
13. Matilda / from Matilda by Roald Dahl, ill. by Quentin Blake --
14. Sebastian / from The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian by Lloyd Alexander —

This compilation is 375 pages and most people of my generation have probably read at least one if not all of these stories. I think there might have been a couple in here that I hadn’t read but had heard of.

Of the few classic book compilations for children that I’ve seen I would vote that this is one of the better ones. Though I probably would’ve compiled different ones it still seems like it’s essential for every child to read these at least once. It’s a good primer, as they say.

I give it 6.5 stars out of 10.

[Arielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

We just read Ferdinand, Madeline, and Corduroy