little audrey and the moon lady

this is such a sassy book and it's in excellent condition too...little audrey is apparently an extension of the character little lulu...although i like audrey much better...this book is a cute and colorful depiction of her precocious nature!

little audrey and the moon lady
produced and created by harvey cartoon studios
wonder books, 1960, harvey famous cartoons, new york
illustrator not credited

snow-white and the seven dwarfs

i love this version of snow-white...it's really special...the book is a linen (well linen-like as specified) book and the illustrations are wonderful. there isn't a date listed, just that it's printed in the netherlands. i'm thinking it dates to the mid '60s. it's also in great condition...a lot of the linen books i see are creased and bent. this one has obviously been taken care of through the years.

snow-white and the seven dwarfs: a linen-like story book
published by artcraft
illustrator not credited

animals on the farm

you know blogger can be really annoying with formatting...so i'm going to start a new format of crediting, and will instead credit everything at the end of everything. just saying.

i'm not a huge fan of little golden books (besides their tell-a-tale series and nature guides.) i get the whole concept and they did use some wonderful illustrators, but i do really find them lacking substance. at least the ones i've come across. i do like this one simply because it's a wonderful way to teach kids the names of animals and their offspring and how some words change in the plural. the illustrations are really special too.

animals on the farm, written by jan pfloog
a little golden book, tenth printing, 1981, western publishing, wisconsin
illustrator not credited (anyone know?)

peter pauper press

i've been collecting peter pauper press books for a long time...i first discovered them at this great book sale in lancaster county, pennsylvania. peter pauper press was devoted to publishing fine gift books, in smaller sizes with exemplary design and illustration inclusions and overall high quality production. these books are real treasures, and when i see one i get it. i find it very interesting that the press was started by a husband and wife team in the basement of their mount vernon, ny home. you can read more about the history of this press here. all the books i own appear to be letterpress printed. i own several titles by this press, including:
chinese proverbs from olden times by harry behn (not credited - 1956)
comic epitaphs from the very best old graveyards gathered and published by peter pauper press and illustrated by henry r. martin (1957)
simple new england cookery compiled by edna beilenson (said wife) and illustrated by ruth mccrea (1962)
the japanese tea ceremony interpreted by julia v. nakamura and illustrated by shiba sumitani (1965)
on friendship: a selection edited by louise bachelder with illustrations by eric carle (1966)
the hunting of the snark and other nonsense verse by lewis carroll and illustrated by AW...i would love to know more about this illustrator, but i haven't had any luck figuring out what AW stands for...anyone have any info? (not dated)
i've written more about the press and my collection on my other blog here. and this is a fantastic set on flickr.

diminutive books (part 1 of 2)

cluster of stories: for brother and sister, author not credited

the child's evergreen miniature library, not dated, fisher & brother, philadelphia

illustrator not credited

when i was a kid my grandmother used to show me this little book and tell me it was for "little people," and that it was commissioned by general tom thumb. now i wonder what planet she was on when she said that. maybe i had some crazy childhood mis-memory or something. anyways, it is a truly spectacular diminutive book. the whole book is letterpress printed and the page edges are gilded. the spine is broken, which reveals the word, "the fatal blo." pretty strange stuff.

the best part is the back which reads, "The publishers take great pleasure in announcing to the public, this beautiful Juvenile Library of gems. Each one of the bijou volumes is separate in itself, and the whole constitutes one of the most tasteful series of books ever published. They are admirably calculated for presents; especially for SUNDAY SCHOOLS. Although containing the highest lessons of morality and piety, there is within them nothing of a sectarian character. The Historical volumes of the series have been compiled from the most authentic sources, and are reliable as historical narratives. The Child's Evergreen Miniature Library need only to be examined to be admired; a discerning public will not fail to be pleased with it. Good morals, Historical Truth, Bible Christianity, and pure Poetical Sentiment are its characteristics."

simmer down now! pretty heavy, i think. haha. perfect for kids, right? i'm guessing it's victorian.

peppermint and if i could be

vintage childrens' books are just the best. it's also my most dreaded section at book sales. at the church sale where i picked these up, i had to peek around a family of 500 with a kid screaming to his mother, "can we sell this on ebay?" now i'm not against selling a vintage book, at all. but i did find it kinda annoying. i'm just sayin'. on the other hand, if there are a zillion (i'm overinflating numbers here in case you couldn't tell) kids looking at the books. that's ok. i'm the imposter. me and a whole bunch of school teachers.

lucky for me the family of 500 were more interested in contemporary hardback picture books. i was immediately drawn to poor little peppermint. she's cute, but i fell in love with the title font.

peppermint by dorothy grider
1966, western publishing co. , wisconsin
a whitman tell-a-tale book
illustrated by raymond burns

you can see the font more clearly on the endpaper. although on the cover the coloring is white with pale pink bubbles. i'm also quite smitten with the "illustrated by." overall this is a super cute book. it has a sort of surprise ending, which i won't give away here. i have other tell-a-tales books, and i find them all rather charming.

if i could be, author not credited
1953, whitman publishing, wisconsin
illustrated by lore e. winship (?)

interestingly, an earlier whitman title. this is a short paperback book. the boy on the cover reminds me of my brother a bit. i would've guessed this book was from the '40s were it not for the date. it's super cute! short and sweet.

lament for a lost lover and the queen bee.

yesterday my husband and i, along with our friend dawn, visited a local church charity drive book fair. we visited the second day they were open and everything looked pretty picked through. i find with books sales (at least in this area,) the book dealers get there first thing and snap up a lot of goodies. however, i still got a good lot. i was really drawn to these painterly-style covers. i admit they do remind me of my childhood. mostly i am drawn to nostalgic items. i'm not sure the quality of the stories, but i do like the covers.

lament for a lost lover by philippa carr a.k.a. eleanor hibbert
book club edition, 1977, g.p. putnam's sons, new york
jacket illustration is by charles geer

the queen bee by edna lee
book club edition, 1950, appleton-century-crofts, inc., new york
the illustrator isn't credited, although there seems to be a signature reading be(i,a)nyé? unfortunately, i wasn't able to find any information.

an interesting aside. apparently my grandfather's step-mother was a major b*tch. she was also a member of a popular (high-end) department store family. anyways, my grandparents referred to her as "the queen bee," after this book. i love it when good book finds have quirky stories attached to them. i find it interesting that both of these books are book club editions. i'm thinking that book clubs gravitated toward covers with a romantic vibe to better market them to women. not that that is what women were (or are) all about.