This is a beautifully illustrated and lavishly produced collection of favourite stories and classic rhymes. Ian Beck's delicate, nostalgic illustrations are known and loved throughout the world. His work evokes a gentle ideal of childhood in the tradition of Kate Greenaway and Edward Ardizzone, and his collections of stories and poems for young children are full of humour and fun, while at the same time oozing old world charm. It contains stories and rhymes that are essential childhood reading - from "The Elves and the Shoemaker" to "The Porridge Pot", with accompanying poems by William Blake, Robert Louis Stevenson and Christina Rossetti as well as a fantastic selection of nursey rhymes and songs. The lovingly remembered childhood world gives the reader a sense of comfort and well-being.