Short Stories For Children

JUST SO STORIES

By Rudyard Kipling

William Morrow: 148 pp., $22

These elegant fables, circa 1912--such as “The Elephant’s Child” and “How the Leopard Got His Spots,” seem as integral to childhood as playing catch or jumping rope. A volume of these stories belongs on every child’s shelf. (Ages 8 to 12.)

UNCLE WIGGILY’S STORY BOOK

By Howard R. Garis

Price Stern Sloan: 248 pp., $14.99

These classic tales portray one of the most enduring storybook characters in American literature, Uncle Wiggily, the “cheerful bunny rabbit gentleman,” who along with Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy and friends is always available to help those in need, from children who have toothaches or have fallen in mud puddles to Santa Claus himself. (Ages 4 to 8.)

ROOTABAGA STORIES

By Carl Sandburg

Applewood Books: 240 pp., $12.95

This is quintessential bedtime reading. Stories like “How They Bring Back the Village of Cream Puffs When the Wind Blows It Away” and “The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll and the Broom Handle and Who Was in It” are not only terrific tales but joyful celebrations of childhood celebrated by a master storyteller. (Ages 8 and up.)

SIDEWAY STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL

By Louis Sachar

Illustrated by Julie Brincklow

Avon: 118 pp., $4.50

These hilariously subversive stories describe the goings-on at a zany school and its students and faculty. (Ages 8 and up.)

WINNIE-THE-POOH

By A.A. Milne

Illustrated by Ernest Shepard

Puffin: 162 pp., $4.99

Milne tells the story of boy Christopher Robin and his friends from the Hundred-Acre Wood: self-deprecating Pooh; perky Piglet; pessimistic Eeyore and the rest of the company. (Ages 7 to 12.)