Selected by the well-known children's writer and Carnegie Medallist, Jan Mark, this collection contains some of the best short stories written for children over the last 250 years. With contributions by 44 different authors, the most recent from 1992, it is the first anthology to trace how the children's short story has evolved since the publication of Sarah Fielding's The Governess in 1749. As well as stories by well-known authors (Louisa May Alcott, Rudyard Kipling, E. Nesbit, and Richmal Crompton) and by leading modern writers (Philippa Pearce, Richard Kennedy, Nadia Wheatley, and Jan mark herself), there are also long-forgotten tales that are still highly readable and entertaining. Anyone who enjoys children's fiction, whether young or old, will find something to savour in Jan Mak's selection. Here are moral tales, fairy tales, ghost stories, adventure stories, and school stories, peopled by good and bad children, strict parents, and kindly uncles and aunts, as well as kings and queens, giants, and enchanters. This book is intended for general; gift market; students and teachers of children's literature at undergraduate level upwards.