“Our Boys”: very old book I had as a child. I estimate it was between 1880 & 1930(sorry!). It was an anthology of children’s stories & included The Little Match Girl & Hansel & Gretel. Other than that, I remember it was blue or green binding, oversized & with b&w lithograph illustrations. Thanks!
Our Boys’ and “Our Boys’ best of all” (and other variant titles) were a series of annuals and books. Like the boy “Girls’ own” it was also a magazine for a while (1929-1934) as well. I have seen a lot of the annuals but I’ve never seen ones with the stories you describe they were much more tales of derring-do, detectives, school stories and adventure. They usually had black and white illustrations with a few colour plates.
Thanks for reading this book stumper. I did see those collections but they weren’t what I was looking for. The book I remember had old tales that we’ve all heard in it rather than stories that aren’t as well known. Thank you, though!