Eloise: The Ultimate Edition (by Kay Thompson)

Eloise fans rejoice! All four stories about the irrepressible six-year-old who lives in the Plaza Hotel are collected here in one edition. Also included is the scrapbook of information about and pictures of the author and illustrator.

Compendiums like this are all the rage, and this one is particularly well done. The paper and binding are of high quality, and, unlike many compilations, this one exactly reproduces all the pages from all the books -- no pictures are left out, no text is abridged. If you or your child wants to have all the Eloise stories, this is a cost-effective way to get them.

But few other than die-hard Eloise fans will want all the stories. The Moscow and Christmas stories are distinctly inferior, so much so that even the author recognized this and withdrew them from print. And the problem with any of the all-in-one editions is that they are big and heavy -- not as comfortable for snuggling up for a bedtime read-aloud. For coffee-table display, and for avid fans with limited means, this is a useful volume. Everyone else would do better buying the original story, then deciding if they want Eloise in Paris as well.