I absolutely loved this book. I loved this book for two reasons. I loved that illustrations were detailed and went along with each the tale. The illustrators really took time to have consistent pictures throughout each of the tales. For example, the people in the tale , "The Emperor's New Clothes" are drawn in the same way in "The Straw Ox." I think by keeping the picture consistent it gives the book a nice clean look. The second thing that I liked about this book is the organization of the writing. The author used a lot of space in each of the pages. Instead of clumping the tales into one page, the author spread the story along a few pages with illustrations. For example, some of the text is interrupted with a picture in the middle to break a part the long paragraph. I think that is encourages the reader because it doesn't make the text or story seem to overwhelming.
Overall, this book had a collection of 15 short old tales for children to read. All the tales are very different from one another and center around a variety of themes. I think that this book would be enjoyable for any grade level! ( )

I enjoyed this book for many reasons. First, it is a great collection of traditional fantasy literature. The book has a collection of 30 favorite folktales and poems. Next, I enjoyed that every story taught a different message. The "big idea" is different for each story. Some of the messages were about honesty, sharing, persistence, loyalty, etc. Finally, I like that each story had pictures to go along with it. Some stories were as short as one page and as long as seven pages, but regardless of the length each story had pictures to go along with it. ( )

I really liked this book for many reasons. I really liked the way that the author organized this book. I like that he provides the reader with a collection of these stories all in one book! Each story is relatively short and every "chapter" is a different nursery tale. I also like that this book provides a variety of characters. Each character is well-developed and can be read in different voices using a lot of expression! For example, the reader is tempted to use a small, squeaky voice as the mouse from The Lion and the Mouse, says, "Please, if you let me go, I shall be forever grateful." The reader is also able to do this with The Three Little Pigs story by using a mean, stern voice for the big bad wolf. I also like that many of these stories include repetition that would allow the reader and those being read to, to predict what will be said next. For example, when the big bad wolf tells the little pigs to let him in, each of them say, "No, not by the hair of my chinny, chin chin, I'll not let you in." I felt that the illustrations in this book also enhanced the story. The illustrator has a unique style and it is clear that each of the illustrations were done by the same person. While the illustrations for each story are very similar, the illustrator also does a good job of developing each of these characters individually. For example, the big bad wolf's angry expression portrayed in his illustrations clearly show his mean character. The first two little pig's emotions are also portrayed through their illustrations with frightening looks on their faces as the wolf blows down their houses. I also liked the way that the author/illustrator organized these illustrations. The first illustration is of the mother pig with her three little pigs as she is sending them out to, "seek their fortunes." The next illustrations are organized in a similar way. The top right corner of the page shows the pig building his house with either straw, sticks or bricks. The bottom of the page is an illustration of the wolf as he threatens, and in two cases is able to blow their houses down. The story ends with an illustration of the last little pig and his mother. I like that these illustrations portrayed each of the events that took place on the page and are well organized so that the reader is not confused. I believe that the big idea of this book is to provide children with a variety of nursery tales that provide valuable morals; such as in the story of The Three Little Pigs which shows that time and effort always pays off, which was shown through the third pig who took the time to build a safe and secure home that was able to protect him from the wolf. ( )

In my opinion this is a fantastic book. I never thought I would like a book this much. One reason why I love this book is definitely the writing. Each chapter of the book has a different folktale, some are old while others are fairly new. I love how the author's writing is engaging and the stories are shorten but still have the meaning. I also love how at the end of each folktale there is "moral of the story" section and the author writes a little phrase about the moral. For example in the folktale The fox and the stork the moral is if you have been rude don't be surprised if you get paid back. Another moral that I love was the lion and the mouse. The author wrote," sometimes the most powerful owe everything to the smallest and weakest." I think that the moral to the story after each story makes this book great. I also like the illustrations in this book. I like how the pictures tell the story without even needing to read it and I also like how the pictures are not very advanced. Instead they look like a little child drew the pictures which makes this book very kid friendly. I think that the illustrations really enhance the book and make it fun to read. The message of this book is to learn about each folktale and the moral of each story. It is a great book to read to the class because it has over fifteen folktales in one book and the illustrations are really great. ( )

Tomie dePaola’s Favorite Nursery Tales, selected and illustrated by Tomie dePaola, is a collection of classic folklore which has nourished children from generation to the next.

There are 30 works in this book containing different type of folklore: fairy tales, folktales, fables and poem as well. Most of the works were written by the best known authors such as The Brothers Grimm, Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen, etc.

The book is right for a variety of age groups. The little ones will enjoy “The Lion and the Mouse” by Aesop; the 3-5 year-old will love “The Three Little Pigs” by Joseph Jacobs; and for the older ones will figure out “The Owl and the Pussycat” by Edward Lear.
Many Aesop’s works in this book such as “The Fox and the Grape,” “The Tortoise and Hare,” and “The Shepherd Who Cried Wolf” were adapted into Chinese text book for elementary children and the Anderson’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” was included in senior high school text book for English class.

Illustrates are drawn from children’s point of view. They are funny and witty. The animal characters are interpreted vividly. ( )