Focuses on illustration and contains essays on why and how books were chosen, a list of all books in the three volumes, and predictions for future classics. Picture books covered include titles by Edward Ardizzone, L. Leslie Brooke, Virginia Lee Burton, Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane, Wanda GD'ag, Kate Greenaway, Ezra Jack Keats, Robert Lawson, Leo Lionni, Robert McCloskey, Beatrix Potter, McCloskey Rackham, Maurice Sendak, and Dr. Seuss.
