Bøger i Everyman's Library CHILDREN'S CLASSICS serien

First published in 1842, Robert Browning's poetic version of the legend about the lost children of Hamelin is sub-titled 'A Child's Story' and was originally intended only for the private enjoyment of Willie Macready, young son of the famous actor.

Every child's bookshelf should start with a collection of nursery rhymes so that these fantastic and nonsensical verses (some so old their meaning is long forgotten) are among the first magical words to sound in a child's ear.

This most romantic of fairy tales is found in many versions, and the story of the beautiful girl who falls into a long sleep, to be awakened by a lover, has been interpreted by some as an allegory of the spring revival of the earth after a long winter.

Described on the title-page of the first edition as 'the autobiography of her horse, translated from the original equine', BLACK BEAUTY was Anna Sewell's only book, written when she fatally ill but determined to record her passopnate indignation at the insensitive behaviour of people towards animals.

Roberta is the eldest daughter of a man unjustly sent to prison, who shows great courage, and who is ultimately reunited with her father when he is vindicated and restored to his family. This book spawned the TV film starring Jenny Agutter as Roberta, and Bernard Cribbins as the railway porter.

From the Eastern folk tales that make up the vast collection known as THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS certain stories - of Aladdin, Sindbad and Ali Baba - have become everlasting favourites with children and a magical ingredient of Christmas pantomine.

Set in Yorkshire, and first published in 1911, this is the story of two spoilt and lonely children who regain happiness by restoring a neglected garden. It was inspired by the rose garden in Great Maytham Hall, Kent, where the author lived for several years, and is illustrated by Charles Robinson.

Stevenson's gift as an author and poet for children lay partly in his lack of condescension towards them, and he preserved a large element of the child in his own personality. He wrote many of these poems whilst ill in bed, and the illustrations were first published shortly after his death.

Edward Lear, the 20th child of a London stockbroker, entered the household of Lord Stanley as little more than a servant, but his sense of humour soon made him welcome above stairs and he began to amuse the children with comic drawings and rhymes. This book was first published in 1846.

Kipling began these stories in Vermont, to amuse his daughter when they were living in his wife's home town. The comic explanations, such as "how the camel got his hump" and "how the whale got his throat", are complemented by the author's illustrations, with their extensive and ridiculous captions.

Lewis Carroll's two Alice stories are renowned for their fantastic plots and use of nonsense. The edition, containing both stories, features John Tenniel's original illustrations.

Barrie's classic tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up. It started life as a series of stories made up for the five Llewelyn Davies boys, who were virtually adopted by Barrie after being orphaned. This edition has F.D. Bedford's illustrations, which first appeared in the author's own day.

This classic story of a Swiss family - pastor, wife and four sons -shipwreaked on an uninhabited island (most fortunately blessed with an unlikely profusion of natural resources) was written by a Swiss army chaplain for the entertainment of his own four sons.

Gillian Avery, historian of children's books and novelist whose first book THE WARDEN'S NEICE has become a modern classic of children's literature, has made a very personal selection of favourite poems. The illustrations are taken from the books of natural history made by Thomas Bewick, the celebrated English wood engraver.

First published as a serial in YOUNG FOLKS between May and July 1886 and now reprinted in an Everyman edition on the centenary of Stevenson's death. Rowland Hilder is famous for his paintings of the English countryside but his work in book illustration covered a much wider canvas.

Just two years after the extraordinarily successful publication of LITTLE WOMEN and GOOD WIVES, Louisa Alcott's brother-in-law died, leaving two sons.

These classic tales of Awful Warnings about the consequences of Bad Behaviour are among the best of comic verse ever written for children. This edition includes New Cautionary Tales, first published in 1930, and illustrated by Nicholas Bentley, who replaced as collaborator the poet's friend Lord Basil Blackwood (B.

This collection of eight French contes collected by Charles Perrault in the last decade of the seventeenth century, contains perhaps the most famous fairy stories of all time - 'Cinderella', 'The Sleeping Beauty', 'Puss in Boots', 'Blue Beard' and of couse the eponymous 'Little Red Riding Hood'.