I took a photo of two books that fit into our burgeoning collection of anthology books. These two are Disney/Pixar stories. The Disney Princess one is quite worn- I bought it in that condition. We also have a Fancy Nancy Collection, Amelia Bedelia Collection, several Berenstain Bears collections and at least one other Disney anthology. We have so many books we probably have anthology books I have forgotten about. I did not purchase these books- not on amazon or at a regular bookstore. Our library facilitates a book exchange of sorts- a used book section where people donate old books. You can buy anything from that shelf for between 50 cents and 1$. (An excellent philanthropic project would be to start such an exchange in a lower socioeconomic community- the challenge would be finding a supply of books to be donated on a regular basis. Such a repository of reading material would increase access of literary material for their children) It is an excellent way to diversify your library or to just figure out what your child likes- place a variety of used books on their shelf and see what they grab.
The other place to get cheap books is a TJ Max, Marshalls or Home Goods. At these places, overstock books are shelved at a steep discount- often a price comparison on amazon shows a 50% or more price knockoff.
All of these anthology/collections of stories are advantageous. For the child with a bulging bookshelf and books stashed on different shelves all over the house, a collection serves as a one-stop hub of stories. The search for a stray book is minimized by the binding of several into a single book. Buying a collection is also cheaper and more efficient- the stories are less expensive to buy when combined in an anthology.
A huge disadvantage of these types of collections is that the stories are often truncated or otherwise altered to fit the needs of the binding of that book. In the pink Disney book (pictured above) the story of Cinderella starts as the stepsisters are getting ready for the royal ball. No mention of Cinderella’s early life or why she has become an orphan working for the woman who married her father and his two daughters. My daughter doesn’t seem to mind but it bothers me that the story is so abbreviated.
I succumbed to the temptation to add anthologies to our collection because of convenience and price. If you want the most detailed version of each fairy tale- complete with gorgeous illustrated pictures and beautiful binding I recommend buying them individually.
