when granny was a little girl

another lovely grab bag book...apparently true remembrances by the author. i also love the inscription which reads, "to the father and mother who gave their six children that priceless gift-a perfectly happy childhood"...a priceless gift indeed.

when granny was a little girl by a.e.p. searing
young moderns books, 1934, doubleday, doran & company, new york
illustrated by marion t. justice

stories for alice

this is another grab bag book. the illustrations within are engravings in tints. it is also stereotyped (aka letterpress). the frames are amazing! they are by far my favorite thing about the book, although it is charming as a whole. it is all poems.

stories for alice by anna sharpless brown
1853, henry longstreth, philadelphia
illustrator not credited

corazon

this interesting book was in a stack of children's books that i picked up in a grab bag. they were all vintage and i'll be posting quite a few (if not all) of them. the entire book is in spanish and has pop-up diorama like illustrations. really lovely. i am most smitten with the cover though.
it's a translation of the italian children's novel heart (cuore) by edmundo d'amicis. which is known for its socialist leanings.

corazon by edmundo d'amicis
translated by hector sanchez puyol
1951, editorial codex, buenos aires
illustrated by enzo nardi

peter pauper's book of fun

another peter pauper press book for my collection. another with silkscreen illustrations!

peter pauper's book of fun
1963, peter pauper press, mount vernon
illustrated by albert eisler

the city and country mother goose

i'm endlessly amazed at the wealth of beauty in illustrated children's books. this book is no exception. hilde hoffmann's illustrations are fantastic. busy, colorful, loose, naive and all around amazing. it's like jumping into a blissful dream.

the city and country mother goose by hilde hoffmann
first edition, 1969, american heritage press, new york
illustrations are also by hilde hoffmann

the dragon who liked to spit fire

there's something about castles and dragons that immediately evokes a feeling of childhood imaginings for me. this book is really the embodiment of such childhood fantasies. there's also great merit to creatures that should be frightening, such as a fire spitting dragon, that are personalized into little cuddly BFFs. i used to have a dragon ring (high school-ish) that i would fantasize could come alive and live in my pocket and light my cigarettes (thank god i'm no longer a smoker...and i no longer fancy dragon rings). guess the fantasy lasted a long time for me :)

the dragon who liked to spit fire by judy varga
weekly reader children's book club edition, 1962, william morrow and company, new york
pictures also by judy varga

collections

another collection...view the others here. aren't those endpapers da bomb, yo? ha.
interesting fact about the bobbsey twins' author...it's a pseudonym!

the bobbsey twins' toy shop by laura lee hope
1948, grosset & dunlap, new york

the bobbsey twins on a houseboat by laura lee hope
1943, grosset & dunlap, new york