The research seems to indicate that kids are coming to school without having some of these traditional stories as part of their background. THE FAIRY TALE BOOK contains wonderfully familiar (to me) tales from Grimm, Perrault, Andersen and others. They retain the classic and oral traditions and are not watered down or Disney-fied. Just flat out fairy tales. What is not to like?
THE BEDTIME STORY BOOK had some unfamiliar offerings in addition to Goldilocks. Some of them were from countries other than those usually contained in collections like these. I hope these books find their ways into lots of classrooms where we can talk of archetypes and motifs and all that good stuff that many kids think were invented by contemporary authors.