Welcome to Old Children's Books, selling children's literature and picture books online since 1994. We stock more than 10,000 scarce, collectible and out-of-print books, for readers, teachers and collectors.
Folk Tale Books and Fairy Tale Books
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We have several hundred folk and fairy tales for sale, from a collection begun in my early days of teaching, when teachers had time to create curriculum and children had time to read. To make the collection easier to browse, we have organized the books into shorter lists. Note that older vs. modern books are sorted by illustrator, not author. If you want all the books by a certain author or compiler on one list, for instance Grimm or Andersen, use the Search page.
Older Fairy Tales Lovely older books from the 20's and before, well illustrated, most published before jackets were an integral part of the book. Classic illustrators, Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, Randolph Caldecott, Leslie Brooke, Dulac, Frederick Richardson, Pogany, and others will appear from time to time in this section. Occasionally, we'll include a less than collectible but interesting book or a good quality modern reprint, clearly labeled. Many of our foreign books fit in this category, so this list will grow much longer.
Modern Juvenile Folk and Fairy Tale Collections Modern books of tales compiled for strong 4-8th grade readers, with black and white pictures in text, most including bibliographies. We have also included books of written tales from authors like Barbara Leonie Picard. Most of these books are inexpensive 1sts in nice condition, but since the emphasis is on content, we have included books with less than collectible jackets. Here is a sample of this very long list:
One of these would make a nice present for a homeschooling family, as well as for a teacher, subject collector, or school library. Use the red Keywords on the book pages to investigate countries and genres of interest.
Nursery Tales (Story books) Here are collections of traditional and written stories to read aloud to small children, some of them easy enough for independent reading. They are beautifully illustrated in colour. Since we like good condition in picture books, and since these story books tend to be older, they are intended for a collector or for a special present. Please also see the Mother Goose/Nursery Rhyme list. Storybooks often included both tales and poems.
Modern Picture Book Folk and Fairy Tales. Almost all of these are 1sts are in extremely nice condition, but because most are easy to find, they are inexpensive. The style of the illustrations varies widely. Good Christmas presents... Coming later in the fall.
Fables, Myths, and Legends. Here we have grouped retellings of older children's tales from Middle Eastern to Western literature, stories from the Bible, epics like Gilgamesh and the Odyssey, fables from Aesop through La Fontaine, Egyptian, Greek and Roman Myths, Norse myths, Medieval legends, Arthur and Robin Hood. Also look at The Book House for Children for the later volumes of myth and history, a truly amazing collection. Coming later. Books which use only the text of the Bible itself can be found in one list by putting "Bible" in the Author field on the Search Page.
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book of fairy tales...
i'm looking for a book, maybe called 'my treasury of fairy tales'
it had all the classics, little mermaid, cinderella etc
but also newer short stories.... one of which was about a little girl whos grandfather (?) takes her to a toy shop, and she wants a pretty doll but she gets a simple bear instead, so she is really mean to it, ties it to a kite and throws it out the window etc... but she gets ill and realises that all she wants is her bear.... it had lovely illustrations
It was a big hardback with a dust jacket.... i had it in the 90's
any help would be appreciated! :)
Looking for the title of the
Looking for the title of the folk tale (made into a picture book) about a husband who goes to market to sell
a cow (I think) and loses all his money, makes a bet with another man that his wife wont be upset and wins the bet! I thought it was called the Good Wife, but it's obviously not!! Any help appreciated : )
fairy tale book
I am looking for a wonderful fairy tale book I had as a child in the 80s. I don't know if we bought it brand new or not. I believe it must have been printed in the late 60s-to early 80s. It had those beautiful old fashioned illustrations, and lots of them. It was a large hard cover book. I believe the cover was of the forest with the big bad wolf and possibly red riding hood. The title of the book I cannot remember but I think it was in big blue writing. Some of the stories in it were The little match girl, the three little men in the wood, red riding hood, jack and the beanstalk, the little mermaid, the frog prince. I know there were a few more. One of a queen/princess that turned into a swan? Anyway, I've looked on ebay and amazon for hours but no luck. I'm desperate to find this so I can share it with my girls!!
Fairy Tale book
It seems as if what you need is a picture of the cover, since the tales have been in many collections. If you've already tried Amazon and Ebay, try
Etsy.com
Pull down vintage
Enter fairy tales, or fairy tale book
Then look on the left sidebar and pick book
There are about 1,000 with pictures. The trouble is that Etsy crops the pictures and also that people are apt to break books and list the individual plates under "books" Anyway give it a try.
Grimms fairy tales
I am looking for two books,
1) Hans Anderson fairy tales. -large book pink in colour both apprpx 20 years old
2) Grimms Fairy Tales - large copy in hard back blue in colour. Approx 20 years old
If you have either of these please contact me via the email I would love to buy them as I had both as a child and want my grand children to hear the stories to.
old childrens book
I am looking for a book called "the elf and the magic shoes". Does anyone know where I can find this book?
Seeking childhood book about girl who finds fairy kingdom
I found this book in one of the houses we moved into when I was little. A little girl wanders off and enters a fairy tale land. She meets goblins, elves and fairies and has many adventures before returning home at the end. I remember she crosses a field and enters a grassy tunnel and the grass goes "Ssss....Sssss....Ssss...". At one point in the book two fairies or elves are supposed to be getting married but the "hook-nosed goblins" have captured the bride and substituted a goblin girl in her place. I loved this book and read it over and over. It was such a lovely and mysterious find. It had to have been published sometime before 1956. Any help in finding out more about this lovely treasure from my childhood is appreciated.
1940s Waterbabies Book
I remember this book as being a book about water babies, and each page had cut outs so that you could see through it to the next page. I am not sure if it was paper or board, but I do remember that it thrilled me to look at it and I have been looking for it ever since!
old story book
I am 40 and my grandmother gave me a story book when I was young with different stories one story was about 2 men one was richer than the other and the other man was very nice and skinny. They had a yard with flowers the rich man was not so nice and didn't relize it toll his friend tied fixing a roof. Another story has a statue and a sparrow who made friends and the sparrow didn't fly away tot winter
lost book from the 1930s/Doubleday/Doran
This is a Doubleday/Doran Juniors book from 1932-1934. It is a board cover, approx. 9x12 with white and pink illustration on the cover and the title in black script. The cover shows a grandfather and a boy trying to escape on a wagon from a group of either people chasing them or some creatures of some kind. The cover is very similar in layout to the Petershams AUNTIE from 1932. I would give anything to have it back.
FairyTale/Children's tales and poems
I'm looking for a book I had when I was young...I'm 66 now...so it was in the late 40's or early 50's. It was green...not a smooth cover, but textured...I think it had sort of pencil/ink drawings on the front. One story in it was about the dolls who came to life at night....very quaint drawings of the dolls. I want to find the story or the book as I can no longer find my own. I've told my 6-year-old granddaughter about the story and she wants me to read it to her....
Large book of childrens stories
Looking for a Large book of childrens stories & the like it was a mostly red hard cover. It had stories like "The cry baby calf", peter rabbit, a story about kittens mittens, a dachshund that gets stuck in a hole in a fence & stretches. So many stories. Publish dates would be between 1960's & 1972.
Looking for Fairy Tale book
The book I am looking for was very large book with nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and Aesop fables. It was yellow with a beautiful illustration on the cover. The stories included Sleeping beauty, Cinderella, Snow Whilte, Ruplestilskin, Puss in Boots. The binding was yellow and made out of some sort of thread type material but I can't remember how many pages i had. It seems like in the middle you had to turn it upside down because the other half of the book had pictures and information about wild animals. This may have been part of an encyclopedia set but really can't remember. I just remember loving this book and would love to find it. May have been printed in 50's or 60's.
Thank you,
Alesia
Looking for Fairytale Book
Have you tried "The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls"? Just a thought; they were a series I've been searching for. I only really rememberd what the covers looked like. I found them on ebay and some of the older editions at etsy.com Hope this helps :)
Fairy tale book
I am trying to find out a book I had as a child (about ten years ago) which was a fairy tale book which had the stories of Hansel and Gretel, Brother and Sister, and other such stories. The thing which made this book different was that each story had a small, illustrated pathway which showed the stories happening along a small in the woods. Any help would be great.
I am looking for a set of
I am looking for a set of fairy tale books. Each book was large, full of pictures, and had 2-3 stories per book. I wish I had more details.
collection of stories
I'm looking for a book that has a collection of stories - some of which are "How the Bear lost its tail", Jack Frost, a story about a kitten that spilled milk while the old lady was away. I remember that the book was hardcover and tan, about 1 in. think. I loved the story about the bear and would love to find a copy to share with my son as he grows. Thanks
Little boy removing hat after hat for king
A friend remembers the teacher reading a book about a little boy removing his hat as the king is coming, only to have another hat appear, again and again and again.....Looking for book title and possible copy of book
Title of book
The 500 hats of Bartholomew Cubbins /Seuss
The name of the book is The
The name of the book is The FIve Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.
Complaining rabbit
Looking for a story about a rabbit who gets a ride to the fair for free and complains about it all the way! One of my husbands favorite childhood books from the fifties. Thanks for help
Complaining rabbit.
I moved this to Looking for a Book, (see main sections above) because I don't know it and it's pretty hard to search, yet your description is so good, someone is going to recognize it.
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