Anthologies
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by a compiler. Here are the top 500 anthologies from the whole heritage of children’s literature.
The Children’s Book: A Collection of the Best and Most Famous Stories and Poems in the English Language (1910)
Ranging from fables to fairy tales to ballads to myth, this anthology has stood the test of time. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Various
Illustrator(s):
Maxfield Parrish, Et al, George Cruikshank
The Children’s Book of America (1998)
Short essays on American history, biographies, poems and folk tales.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Various
Illustrator(s):
Michael Hague
The Children’s Book of Heroes (1996)
A collection of stories, true and fictional, poems and tales about heroism.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Various
Illustrator(s):
Michael Hague
The Children’s Book of Home and Family (2002)
A collection of stories and poems dealing with families.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Various
Illustrator(s):
Michael Hague
The Children’s Book of Virtues (1994)
A collection of stories and poems dealing with the virtues.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Various
Illustrator(s):
Michael Hague
The Children’s Hour Volume 1 (1953)
A large collection of classic picture books.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
William du Bois, Margery Bianco, Wanda Gág, Hardie Gramatky, Phyllis McGinley, A. A. Milne, H. A. Rey, Dr. Seuss, Various
Illustrator(s):
Helen Sewell, Et al, Ernest Shepard, Nora Unwin, Jean de Brunhoff, Elizabeth Jones
The Children’s Hour Volume 10 (1953)
An anthology of stories about school and sports.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Ralph Barbour, Eleanor Estes, Owen Johnson, Stephen Meader, John Tunis, Elizabeth Gray, Et al, William Heyliger
Illustrator(s):
Hardie Gramatky, Et al, Keith Ward
The Children’s Hour Volume 11 (1953)
A collection of stories about the pioneers in America.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Laura Wilder, Carol Brink, Elizabeth Coatsworth, James Daugherty, Esther Forbes, Various, Mark Twain
Illustrator(s):
Et al, Henry Pitz, Keith Ward
The Children’s Hour Volume 12 (1953)
A collection of historical fiction.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
John Bennett, Marguerite de Angeli, Howard Pyle, Various, Elizabeth Gray
Illustrator(s):
Hardie Gramatky, Dorothy Lathrop, Marie Lawson, Et al
The Children’s Hour Volume 13 (1953)
A collection of adventure tales.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Elizabeth Enright, Astrid Lindgren, Marie McSwigan, Howard Pyle, Kate Seredy, Et al, Dorothy Canfield, William Heyliger
Illustrator(s):
Hardie Gramatky, Kate Seredy, Armstrong Sperry, Et al, Henry Pitz, Louis Glanzman, Dorothy Morse
The Children’s Hour Volume 14 (1953)
An anthology of animal stories.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Walter Farley, Berta Hader, Elmer Hader, Will James, Rudyard Kipling, Dorothy Lathrop, Ernest Seton, Felix Salten, Et al
Illustrator(s):
Dorothy Lathrop, Lynd Ward, Various, Wesley Dennis
The Children’s Hour Volume 15 (1953)
A collection of short biographies of famous men and women.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Carolyn Bailey, Roger Duvoisin, Cornelia Meigs, Mabel Robinson, Kate Wiggin, Various, Henry Longfellow
Illustrator(s):
Hardie Gramatky, Howard Pyle, Lynd Ward, Et al, Henry Pitz, Keith Ward
The Children’s Hour Volume 16 (1953)
A collection of short science fiction. and the various indexes to the set.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Robert Heinlein, Various
Illustrator(s):
Paul Galdone, Hardie Gramatky, Et al
The Children’s Hour Volume 2 (1953)
An anthology of fairy tales, old and new. The illustrations by Robert Lawson had previously appeared in Just for Fun.
Author(s):
E. Nesbit, Margaret Baker, Kenneth Grahame, James Thurber, Et al
Illustrator(s):
Robert Lawson, Wanda Gág, Hardie Gramatky, Dorothy Lathrop, Marie Lawson, Louis Slobodkin, Lynd Ward, Et al, Ernest Shepard, Henry Pitz
The Children’s Hour Volume 3 (1953)
Longer selections from classic novels.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
John Ruskin, Louisa Alcott, Frances Burnett, Daniel Defoe, Mary Dodge, Kate Wiggin, Et al, Mark Twain
Illustrator(s):
Jessie Smith, Et al, Marguerite Davis, Fritz Kredel
The Children’s Hour Volume 4 (1953)
A collection of humorous and nonsense stories and verse. Includes a selection from Mr. Popper's Penguins, with illustrations by Robert Lawson.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Betty MacDonald, Walter Brooks, Hugh Lofting, Carl Sandburg, Carolyn Wells, Various, Richard Atwater, Florence Atwater, Richard Hughes, Laura Richards
Illustrator(s):
Robert Lawson, Robert McCloskey, Kurt Wiese, Et al, Keith Ward, John Tenniel
The Children’s Hour Volume 5 (1953)
A copious collection of poetry. Includes Robert Lawson's illustrations to three poems of Jonathan Bing. The image on page 247 of Jonathan with a wheelbarrow does not appear in Just for Fun.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Robert Browning, Lewis Carroll, Charles Carryl, Alfred Noyes, Various, Robert Service
Illustrator(s):
Robert Lawson, Dorothy Lathrop, Et al, Elizabeth Jones
The Children’s Hour Volume 6 (1953)
An anthology of contemporary mid-twentieth century stories.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Margery Bianco, Elizabeth Enright, Eleanor Estes, Mabel Robinson, Phil Stong, Et al
Illustrator(s):
Armstrong Sperry, Kurt Wiese, Et al, Keith Ward, Flavia Gág
The Children’s Hour Volume 7 (1953)
A collection of mysteries, classic and contemporary.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Elizabeth Coatsworth, Arthur Doyle, Robert McCloskey, Howard Pease, Edgar Poe, Various, O. Henry
Illustrator(s):
Marguerite de Angeli, Robert McCloskey, Et al, Henry Pitz
The Children’s Hour Volume 8 (1953)
A collection of myth, legend and folktale.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Eleanor Farjeon, Charles Finger, Joel Harris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Howard Pyle, Hilda van Stockum, Various
Illustrator(s):
Roger Duvoisin, Robert McCloskey, Maud Petersham, Miska Petersham, Et al, Henry Pitz, A. B. Frost