Overview
Have you ever wondered why the elephant has such a long trunk? Who the most clever animal in the jungle is? If the rabbit's tail was always so short? In this delightful collection of stories, you will discover the answers to these questions and much, much more. The Classic Treasury of Animal Stories is a wonderfully diverse collection featuring stories and poems from around the world and across time. Drawn together in this one volume are writings from Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling, the Brothers Grimm, Farley Mowat, and many others. Excerpts from such treasured classics as Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are interspersed with fables and poems from native American cultures, Japan, Europe, and elsewhere, providing a wonderful introduction to great literature and storytellers for every young reader. Always engaging, the stories run the gamut from realistic to fanciful, trenchant to downright hilarious. Page by page, readers will be entertained by the antics of a cunning rabbit, a mischievous monkey, a cowardly lion, and a trickster tortoise, and they will delight in the musings of Lewis Carroll's Mock Turtle and the nonsense verse of Edward Lear. With more than forty timeless stories complemented by stunning, full-color art and black-and-white drawings throughout, The Classic Treasury of Animal Stories promises to be an enduring family favourite.