I am searching for a children's anthology I had as a child. It's almost certainly pre-1970s and had a red hardback cover. It was smaller than a piece of regular printer paper, but approximately 3 inches thick. My copy had the spine loved off it, so I can't recall the title. It had beautiful color illustrations, one per story, and I think full page in each case. There were a *lot* of stories but ones I remember included: The Happy Prince, with the illustration being the prince's statue with the swallow at his feet; Prince Rabbit, with the illustration being the rabbit at court if I recall; The Elephant's Child, with the illustration being the crocodile pulling the elephant's trunk; The Devil's Hide, also called The Boy Who Wouldn't Lose His Temper, with the illustration being the devil's cat in the woodpile. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Found it! It is the exact one I was looking for and in great shape: Reader’s Digest Great Stories for Young Readers (c) 1969
I have ordered it, but here is the link so you all can see the book in question and its illustrations:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/692817597/vintage-hardback-edition-of-1969-readers?show_sold_out_detail=1
Got to be the 1969 Reader’s Digest Great Stories for Young Readers. The stories you name are listed in this Worldcat entry, which says it’s 832 pages:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/readers-digest-great-stories-for-young-readers/oclc/53958
and here’s a picture that matches your description:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41MwZM6PqaL._SL300_.jpg
Looks easy to find a used copy!