Cinderella

Perrault's Cinderella has earned its place on every classics shelf—the forgiveness ending alone sets it apart from later retellings—and the illustrated editions bring it to life for a new generation. Some parents will want to talk through the stepmother's cruelty with younger children, and the specific 2006 edition identity is a little murky, but the story's moral clarity and the quality of the Koopmans translation put it solidly in worth-it territory.