1950s Better Homes And Gardens Treasury Of Children's Stories

Better Homes and Garde... by
Betty O'Connor

Open Preview

See a Problem?

We'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of Better Homes and Gardens Story Book by Betty O'Connor.

Thanks for telling us about the problem.

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

Community Reviews

· 47 ratings · 14 reviews

Start your review of Better Homes and Gardens Story Book

Mar 31, 2013 babyhippoface rated it it was amazing

I picked up this book at an estate sale last week, flipped through the pages, and immediately felt I had seen those illustrations as a young child. I bought it, brought it home, and asked my older sister if we had a copy when I was little. She said yes, it had belonged to her and mom read it to me. I knew it! Funny how some books never leave you. The illustrations of Over in the Meadow, Little Black Sambo, The Nonsense ABC (where I learned the name Xerxes), The House That Jack Built, and so many I picked up this book at an estate sale last week, flipped through the pages, and immediately felt I had seen those illustrations as a young child. I bought it, brought it home, and asked my older sister if we had a copy when I was little. She said yes, it had belonged to her and mom read it to me. I knew it! Funny how some books never leave you. The illustrations of Over in the Meadow, Little Black Sambo, The Nonsense ABC (where I learned the name Xerxes), The House That Jack Built, and so many more are lodged forever in my consciousness.

I turn to the pages of Joel Chandler Harris' Brer Rabbit tales and I can hear my mother's voice doing her best to read in that dialect. I loved those stories about the tar baby, and Brer Fox, he lay low. I can hear Mom singing, "and they swam and they swam right over the dam...." Mom read with such emotion that I was genuinely afraid for Peter Rabbit when Mr. McGregor almost caught him, but I knew he deserved it when Flopsy, Mopsy, & Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper, and he got only doses of camomile tea.

I don't remember every story in this book, but those I do remember are firmly fixed. Just turning the pages makes my heart happy.

...more

Jan 13, 2012 Lynette rated it it was amazing

I read the heck out of this book, which had been my mother's, when I was a kid. Every once in a while I still leaf through it - I have very strong memories of my grandmother's house attached to the illustrations in this book. Every time I go through it, I feel like I'm back at her house. I read the heck out of this book, which had been my mother's, when I was a kid. Every once in a while I still leaf through it - I have very strong memories of my grandmother's house attached to the illustrations in this book. Every time I go through it, I feel like I'm back at her house. ...more

One of my childhood favorites that I now get to share with my daughter.

Aug 11, 2010 Shelly rated it it was amazing

Wonderful children's stories you can't find anywhere else in modern times. Wonderful children's stories you can't find anywhere else in modern times. ...more

at first glance, fitting into the same category as the uber-yucky Readers Digest classics: entirely public domain material, capitalistically compiled for the sake of magazine readers -- the least literary of all 20th century americans -- who wanted cheap tomes to pose as 'family treasures' in their impersonalized living rooms.

yet somehow, this stands as the glorious ideal of The Story Book. handsome rhymes + divers tales + persistently dignified illustrations are woven throughout harmoniously en

yet somehow, this stands as the glorious ideal of The Story Book. handsome rhymes + divers tales + persistently dignified illustrations are woven throughout harmoniously enough to keep you turning the pages, awaiting the next object of fascination. (a child's mind is always on the move, but writing a single oversaturated story to indulge his imagination is tasteless. the storybook serves as the attractive alternative—always important to allow PERUSING.)

fresh perspectives from all the Greats, who dabbled in whimsy and exotica without any overt silliness. b&w sketches mixed with shocks of vintage color, never blotting out the whole page, but merely decoration to enhance the already handsome presence of the text. and my personal favorite, those creative little didactic pieces dealing with the alphabet, the calendar, etc.
it's all here, fellas… presumably by accident, BH&G hit the spot better than anyone else.

...more

This was my favorite story book as a child. The first thing I would do when I arrived at my grandparents' house was to pull this off the shelf. My favorites were "The Little Red Hen" and "Little Black Sambo". It was read so much that binding gave way, and it was replaced with a new copy. Alas, the updated edition did not include "Little Black Sambo". Sigh, I wish they would have changed the name of the story to Sambo, just refer to him as Little Sambo because I loved the beautiful illustrations This was my favorite story book as a child. The first thing I would do when I arrived at my grandparents' house was to pull this off the shelf. My favorites were "The Little Red Hen" and "Little Black Sambo". It was read so much that binding gave way, and it was replaced with a new copy. Alas, the updated edition did not include "Little Black Sambo". Sigh, I wish they would have changed the name of the story to Sambo, just refer to him as Little Sambo because I loved the beautiful illustrations of the tigers and their comeuppance of turning into syrup. ...more

Another piece of nostalgia from my own childhood that I was able to enjoy again with my own children. My oldest learned all the capital letters from the arrangement of them after "A was once an apple pie." Everyone's favourite: the long excerpt from The Story of Live Dolls. Another piece of nostalgia from my own childhood that I was able to enjoy again with my own children. My oldest learned all the capital letters from the arrangement of them after "A was once an apple pie." Everyone's favourite: the long excerpt from The Story of Live Dolls. ...more

Feb 26, 2014 Jeremy rated it it was amazing

The only thing that stops this book from being politically correct is the tale of "Little Black Sambo" and the only change that needs to be made is the omission of the word "black" and it's just like any story you might read today. The only thing that stops this book from being politically correct is the tale of "Little Black Sambo" and the only change that needs to be made is the omission of the word "black" and it's just like any story you might read today. ...more

Kinda lame little collection. There are some truly offensive stories in here -- I mean, I know it's an older book. But I wouldn't recommend reading it now, definitely not to children. Gender roles, ugly racial stereotypes, and there's even a good ol' Jesus story. Kinda lame little collection. There are some truly offensive stories in here -- I mean, I know it's an older book. But I wouldn't recommend reading it now, definitely not to children. Gender roles, ugly racial stereotypes, and there's even a good ol' Jesus story. ...more

Apr 19, 2009 Gwyn rated it it was amazing

Wonderful old time classics for children. Was given to me in 1964 by my Grandmother & Grandfather Leishman. I use to read stories from it to our children.