Children’s books with illustrations limited largely to the color wheel and cartoonish renditions can have value. The first book I ever read was One Fish two fish red fish blue fish . But I also had absolutely beautiful books. The first, I remember kind of fondly; the second, I treasure.
The two beautiful books I had as a child were The Fairy Tale Book: A Deluxe Golden Book, which has been reissued, and Japanese Fairy Tales: A Giant Golden Book, which has not. I was given the first when I was nine and the second when I was eight.
Whatever you think about fairy tales, I think that if you look at the covers shown in the links, we can probably agree that the illustrations by Adrienne Ségur and Benvenuti are of extremely high quality and that long hours and deep thought were given to their creation. In these attributes, they contrast sharply with the illustrations of other children’s books, some of which give quite a different impression.
Perhaps a comparison can be found in the response of members of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association after the Elley-Long Music Center was created out of an old cavalry drill hall in 2001 for their use for practice, rehearsal, and performance. That “they [the adults] built this for us” said something to the children about how they were valued. Perhaps a beautiful book may have the same effect.