Published in aid of the Opie Appeal, this volume contains a collection of essays by distinguished scholars, including Keith Thomas, Humphrey Carpenter, Barbara Everett and John Bayley. Subjects range from the history of children's literature to the great children's writers and illustrators of the 19th and 20th centuries. It has been assembled as a tribute to the achievement of Iona and Peter Opie in enriching the lives of children through their study of nursery rhymes, games and fairy tales. There is a foreward by Iona Opie and an introduction which describes the great Opie collection of children's books.