the wonderful story of how you were born

i love the cover of this book...how the back looks like the back of the children's heads and the writing is reversed. very clever! this book actually includes the words vagina, penis, and testicles...i almost giggled like a little girl. but truly i was surprised since this book was published in 1959. this is actually a revised edition (it was originally published in 1952). i just figured everything in the '50s was storks and cabbages. the lithograph illustrations are lovely too, and it really is very informative.

the wonderful story of how you were born by sidonie matsner gruenberg
revised edition, 1959, doubleday & company, inc., new york
illustrated by hildegard woodward

the happy hollisters and the mystery of the little mermaid

this is another grab bag book...if you want to see the rest just search 'grab bag' in the navigation bar at the top of the page.
i'm a scandophile...and i was given a lovely trip to copenhagen for my college graduation by my mother. the day we visited the little mermaid it was christmas and about 0 degrees. the wind coming off of the oeresund strait was even more frigid. but it was worth it, she really is as lovely as everyone says.
i've never read any of "the happy hollister" books, but i'm glad to have this one to start with.

the happy hollisters and the mystery of the little mermaid (book #18) by jerry west aka andrew e. svenson
1960, doubleday and co.
illustrated by helen s. hamilton

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

collections

i love daphne du maurier...she's one of those authors that i can read everything she has ever written (wilkie collins is another)...i thought that theo made a great companion for the scapegoat. a "sprightly" love story and a story of a doppelgänger who tries to right the wrongs of the other.
isn't that 'scapegoat' font fantastic ?!

theo: a sprightly love story by frances hodgson burnett
1877, f.m. lupton publishing co., new york

the scapegoat by daphne du maurier
1957, doubleday & co., new york

the lonely doll

this is one of the most wonderful, and albeit a bit bizarre of children's books. it's rather iconic, i think. i discovered it years ago through a friend and have been enamored of dare wright since. she was apparently an unusual character, there is even a biography which you can find here. i love the lenci doll she used and the stories are really fantastic (in the true meaning of the word). a must for a collection. i was lucky enough to find this first edition, even though it's seen better days. she's written 10 others in this series too.

the lonely doll by dare wright
first edition, 1957, doubleday & inc., new york
photographs also by dare wright

junior deluxe editions

junior deluxe editions are those special gems that i run across from time to time while searching for books...these three are no exception. in this collection i've included little women, tales from shakespeare and through the looking-glass. which reminds me, tales from shakespeare is edited and compiled by charles and mary lamb...did you know that mary lamb murdered her mother? how odd (not to mention that some think lewis carroll was a pedophile)...and it's illustrated by leonard weisgard, who i've posted in the past.
another author who murdered is anne perry, who helped her friend murder her mother. just an morbid aside.
there's a junior deluxe edition flickr group too...right here.

tales from shakespeare by charles and mary lamb
1955, nelson doubleday
illustrated by leonard weisgard

through the looking-glass: and what alice found there by lewis carroll
c. 1955 (not dated), nelson doubleday
illustrated by john tenniel

little women by louisa may alcott
1950, nelson doubleday
illustrated by reisie lonette

the little island

this is another vintage children's book that i own which is illustrated by leonard weisgard. this is an earlier book from 1946, and this book is a collaboration with margaret wise brown. golden macdonald was a pseudonym she used. the illustrations of this book are a lot darker in nature that weisgard's later works. i'm not sure why, besides the illustration style being influenced by the time and the aftermath of a world war probably holds some influence as well. it's beautifully illustrated, quite unique and the story is really wonderful too. it won the caldecott award in 1947.

the little island by golden macdonald
1st edition, 1946, doubleday & co., new york
illustrated by leonard weisgard
lithographed

bride of pendorric

bride of pendorric by victoria holt a.k.a. eleanor hibbert

book club edition, 1963, doubleday & co., new york

jacket painting by arthur shilstone

i'm becoming really enamored of these book club edition covers. they fit the gothic theme so well. of course it's set on the cliffs of cornwall as all good (revival) gothic romances are (cough, rebecca, cough). and her husband "roc" may be trying to kill her! dun, dun, dun...i might have to put this next on my 'to read' list.