I recently purchased a book from Scout Books and fell in love right away. So much so that I bought a subscription to the American Short Stories collection [1. Note that Scout Books no longer offers this subscription, but has gathered all of the American Shorts into a nice box set.]. Today I’ve got 10 beautiful, friendly books featuring classic shorts and fantastic illustrations. The collection includes:

1. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, illustrated by Tom Neely
2. Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Zack Soto
3. To Build A Fire by Jack London, illustrated by Michael C. Hsiung
4. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, illustrated by Kate Bingaman-Burt
5. Eve’s Diary by Mark Twain, illustrated by Meg Hunt
6. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, illustrated by Aaron Renier
7. The Jelly Bean by F. Scott Fitzgerald, illustrated by Vanessa Davis
8. The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, illustrated by Gemma Correll
9. Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving, illustrated by Bwana Spoons
10. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, illustrated by François Vigneault

As electronic books and readers become increasingly popular, it’s especially charming to hold such a thoughtfully made, physical book. Someday I hope my kids will inherit a nice library of titles form ‘ol dad, and the Scout Books will be a very nice addition.