Sunday, August 11, 2013

The Big Golden Book of Poetry: 85 Childhood Favorites

I have been very much out of commission on this blog for months--blame the baby--but I'm trying to get back to this and other writing. I wanted to start with this treasure because it's the vintage Golden Book that I use the most, partly because it works for both the big kid and the baby (and me!). There's something about the illustrations and the layout of this book that just lures in the reader, and it's given me a new appreciation for poetry in general and children's poetry in particular. Some scans of the Gertrude Elliott illustrations are posted below.

The Golden Book of Poetry
Edited by Jane Werner
Illustrated by Gertrude Elliott
(c) 1947 Golden Press




"Moon Song" by Mildred Plew Meigs: "Zoon, zoon, cuddle and croon--over the crinkling sea..."

"Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" by Eugene Field: "Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes, And Nod is a little head..."

"General Store" by Rachel Field

"The Sugar-Plum Tree" by Eugene Field

"Custard the Dragon" by Odgen Nash: "Belinda lived in a little white house, With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse, and A little yellow dog and a little red wagon, And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon."

"The Duel" by Eugene Field

"Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley: "An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out!"

"If I Were a One-Legged Pirate" by Mildred Plew Meigs: "Plying the lane Of the Spanish Main for Gold! Gold! Gold!"

"Jill Came From the Fair" by Eleanor Farjeon

"Jill Came From the Fair" by Eleanor Farjeon

"The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear

"The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear


Friday, May 24, 2013

CHILDREN'S CHOICE BOOK CLUB

Originally published on Associated Content; going forward I will only update the list of titles at this location.

If you're looking to build a great home library for your child, keep an eye out for CHILDREN'S CHOICE BOOK CLUB editions of classic storybooks. These books, part of a subscription series sold during the 1970s and '80s, were part of a carefully curated list of classic children's titles, beginning with books as early as 1928's Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag and carrying forward to include recently published titles from the 1980s. 

Authors and titles featured by the book club include children's literature legends like Margaret Wise Brown, Paul Galdone, Harry Allard, Russell Hoban, Ruth Krauss, Virginia Lee Burton, H.A. Rey, Alvin Tresselt, Munro Leaf, Rosemary Wells, Don Freeman, Marjorie Flack, Bernard Waber, Margaret Bloy Graham, Maurice Sendak, Mercer Mayer, Taro Gomi, Ludwig Bemelmans, Ezra Jack Keats, Louise Fatio, Steven Kellogg, Judith Viorst, Kevin Henkes, Harry Zion, Alice and Martin Provensen and Brian Wildsmith. 

The books were intended for an audience of children in the two to seven year old age range. 

These cardboard-cover books are easily identifiable by their rainbow-spectrum spines, most also have a solid-color rectangular "mat" frame around the cover illustration. The spine, back cover and "bookplate" of each Children Choice's Book Club edition features a of a mysteriously mustachioed monster. On the spine and the back cover of the books, he is tipping his hat. He appears in black and white on the spine, and in various colors on the back cover. He also appears on an inside page of the book reading a book in a hot-air balloon. CCBC editions were all originally issued without dustjackets. 

Children's Choice was owned by Educational Products Inc. from the 1960s through 1986, when it was acquired by Macmillan Book Clubs Inc. Scholastic Inc. was also a distributor of the Club books for a time. The Club ceased to exist by approximately 1990. 

Children's Choice Book Club editions remain widely available on the used book market and are generally available at "garage sale prices" of .25-$1 per copy. However, there are a few of these books that are unique to the series or otherwise out of print that go for more. 

Two of the most valuable Children's Choice Book Club books are Albert Lamorisse's The Red Balloon (adapted from the short film) and Louise Matthews' Gator Pie (a book about fractions that is popular with homeschooling families). Rex Parkin's The Red Carpet is out-of-print and is a part of the Before Five in a Row reading list so it sells at a premium as well. 

Children's Choice Book Club Titles, Partial List 
  • Allard, Harry, Miss Nelson Is Back 
  • Allard, Harry, Miss Nelson Is Missing!
  • Allard, Harry, The Stupids Step Out 
  • Allen, Jeffrey, Mary Alice, Operator Number 9 
  • Aarderna, Verna, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
  • Armour, Richard Willard, A Dozen Dinosaurs 
  • Bemelmans, Ludwig, Madeline's Rescue
  • Bennett, Jill, Days Are Where We Live, and Other Poems
  • Berenstain, Stan and Jan, The Bears' Nature Guide 
  • Blos, Joan W., Martin's Hats 
  • Bornstein, Ruth, Little Gorilla
  • Bright, Robert, Georgie and the Robbers 
  • Brown, Marc, Arthur's Nose
  • Brown, Marcia, Stone Soup 
  • Brown, Margaret Wise, Little Chicken 
  • Brown, Margaret Wise, Little Fur Family 
  • Brown, Margaret Wise, The Indoor Noisy Book
  • Brown, Margaret Wise, The Runaway Bunny 
  • Brown, Margaret Wise, Wait Till The Moon Is Full 
  • Burningham, John, Mr. Grumpy's Outing 
  • Burton, Virginia Lee, Katy and the Big Snow 
  • Burton, Virginia Lee, The Little House
  • Burton, Virginia Lee, Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel 
  • Cauley, Lorinda Bryan, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse 
  • Chalmers, Mary, Come To the Doctor, Harry 
  • Chalmers, Mary, Throw a Kiss, Harry 
  • Chess, Victoria, Alfred's Alphabet Walk 
  • Coats, Laura Jane, Marcella and the Moon 
  • Cole, Joanna, My Puppy Is Born
  • Dauer, Rosamund, Bullfrog Grows Up 
  • de Brunhoff, Laurent, Babar and Father Christmas 
  • de Brunhoff, Laurent, Story of Babar 
  • De Regniers, Beatrice Schenk, May I Bring a Friend?
  • Dee, Ruby, Two Ways to Count to Ten
  • Dubanevich, Arlene, Calico Cows 
  • Dubanevich, Arlene, Pig William
  • Ericsson, Jennifer A., No Milk! 
  • Ets, Marie Hall, In the Forest 
  • Ewing , Carolyn, Wake Up, City! 
  • Fatio, Louise, The Happy Lion 
  • Flack, Marjorie, Angus and the Cat 
  • Flack, Marjorie, Angus and the Ducks 
  • Flack, Marjorie, Angus Lost 
  • Flack, Marjorie, The Story About Ping 
  • Freeman, Don, A Pocket for Corduroy 
  • Freeman, Don, Beady Bear 
  • Freeman, Don, Dandelion 
  • Freeman, Don, Norman the Doorman 
  • G'ag, Wanda, Millions of Cats 
  • Galdone, Paul, Rumpelstiltskin 
  • Galdone, Paul, The Elves and the Shoemaker 
  • Galdone, Paul, The Frog Prince
  • Galdone, Paul, The Monkey and the Crocodile 
  • Galdone, Paul, The Little Red Hen 
  • Galdone, Paul, Puss-in-Boots
  • Garelick, May, What Makes a Bird a Bird?
  • Gibbons, Gail, Check It Out! 
  • Ginsburg, Mirra, How the Sun Was Brought Back to the Sky 
  • Gomi, Taro, Bus Stops 
  • Graham, Margaret Bloy, Be Nice to Spiders 
  • Graham, Margaret Bloy, Benjy and His Friend Fifi 
  • Graham, Margaret Bloy, Benjy and the Barking Bird 
  • Graham, Margaret Bloy, Benjy's Boat Trip 
  • Graham, Margaret Bloy, Benjy's Dog House 
  • Gundersheimer, Karen, Happy Winter 
  • Hall, Donald, The Ox-Cart Man
  • Hazen, Barbara Shook, Fang 
  • Henkes, Kevin, Jessica 
  • Hennessy, B.G., The Missing Tarts 
  • Hennessy, B.G., The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Backyard
  • Hoban, Russell, A Baby Sister for Frances 
  • Hoban, Russell, Bedtime for Frances 
  • Hoban, Russell, Best Friends for Frances 
  • Hoban, Russell, Bread and Jam for Frances 
  • Holl, Adelaide, The Rain Puddle 
  • Hurd, Thacher, The Pea Patch Jig
  • Joerns, Consuelo, The Lost and Found House
  • Johnson, Crockett, Harold and the Purple Crayon
  • Johnson, Crockett, Harold's Circus 
  • Jonas, Ann, The Trek 
  • Karlin, Barbara, Cinderella 
  • Keats, Ezra Jack, A Letter to Amy
  • Keats, Ezra Jack, Pet Show! 
  • Keats, Ezra Jack, The Snowy Day 
  • Keats, Ezra Jack, Whistle for Willie 
  • Keller, Holly, Geraldine's Big Snow 
  • Keller, Holly, Geraldine's Blanket 
  • Kellogg, Steven, Much Bigger Than Martin 
  • Kellogg, Steven, The Mysterious Tadpole
  • Kent, Jack, Round Robin 
  • Krasilovsky, Phyllis, The Cow Who Fell in the Canal 
  • Kraus, Robert, Leo the Late Bloomer 
  • Krauss, Ruth, The Carrot Seed
  • LaMorisse, Albert, The Red Balloon 
  • Lasker, Joe, The Do-Something Day 
  • Leaf, Munro, The Story of Ferdinand 
  • Lewis, Shari , One Minute Animal Stories
  • Livermore, Elaine, Looking for Henry
  • Lobel, Arnold, Ming Lo Moves the Mountain
  • Lobel, Arnold, A Treeful of Pigs 
  • Low, Alice, The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches
  • Maestro, Betsy, Big City Port 
  • Marshall, James, George and Martha Back In Town 
  • Marshall, James, George and Martha Encore 
  • Marshall, James, George and Martha One Fine Day 
  • Marshall , James, Goldilocks and the Three Bears 
  • Marshall, James, The Three Little Pigs
  • Matthews, Louise, Gator Pie 
  • Mayer, Mercer, There's a Nightmare In My Closet
  • McCloskey, Robert, Blueberries for Sal
  • McCloskey, Robert, Lentil
  • McCloskey, Robert, Make Way for Ducklings 
  • McGovern, Ann, Little Whale
  • McGovern, Ann, Too Much Noise
  • McNaughton, Colin, If Dinosaurs Were Dogs and Cats
  • McPhail, David, Pig Pig Grows Up
  • Morgan, Pierr, The Turnip
  • Most, Bernard, If the Dinosaurs Came Back 
  • Most, Bernard, My Very Own Octopus
  • Murphy, Jill, Five Minutes' Peace
  • Newman, Shirlee P., T ell Me, Grandma Tell Me, Grandpa 
  • Parkin, Rex, The Red Carpet 
  • Parrish, Peggy, Amelia Bedelia 
  • Payne, Emmy, Katy No-Pocket 
  • Peet, Bill, Randy Dandy's Lions
  • Pinkwater, Daniel, Aunt Lulu
  • Piper, Watty, The Little Engine That Could 
  • Provensen, Alice and Martin, The Year at Maple Hill Farm 
  • Rey, H.A., Curious George Gets a Medal
  • Rey, H.A., Curious George Rides a Bike
  • Rey, H.A., Curious George Gets a Job
  • Roy, Ron, Three Ducks Went Wandering 
  • Rylant, Cynthia, The Relatives Came 
  • Samton, Sheila White, Tilly and the Rhinoceros 
  • Samuels, Barbara, Duncan & Dolores 
  • Schultz, Charles M., Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown
  • Schultz, Charles M., It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown 
  • Segal, Lore, Tell Me a Trudy
  • Selsam, Millicent, Sea Monsters of Long Ago 
  • Sendak, Maurice, Chicken Soup With Rice
  • Sendak, Maurice, Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue 
  • Shulevitz, Uri, One Monday Morning
  • Slobodkina, Esphyr, Caps for Sale 
  • Small, David, Imogene's Antlers
  • Spier, Peter, Erie Canal
  • Steig, William, The Amazing Bone
  • Steig, William, Roland, the Minstrel Pig
  • Steig, William, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble 
  • Stevenson, James, Could Be Worse 
  • Stevenson, James, If I Owned a Candy Factory
  • Stevenson, James, Quick! Turn the Page!
  • Stevenson, James, There's Nothing To Do 
  • Stevenson, James, We Can't Sleep
  • Stevenson, James, We Hate Rain! 
  • Taylor, Mark, Henry the Explorer 
  • Thayer, Jane, Quiet on Account of Dinosaur 
  • Titus, Eve, Anatole
  • Titus, Eve, Anatole and the Piano 
  • Tompert, Ann, Little Fox Goes to the End of the World 
  • Tresselt, Alvin R., The Mitten 
  • Tresselt, Alvin, White Snow, Bright Snow 
  • Tyler , Linda Wagner, The Sick-in-Bed Birthday 
  • Viorst, Judith, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 
  • Waber, Bernard, An Anteater Named Arthur 
  • Waber, Bernard, Ira Sleeps Over 
  • Waber, Bernard, Lovable Lyle 
  • Waber, Bernard, Lyle and the Birthday Party 
  • Waber, Bernard, Lyle Finds His Mother 
  • Waber, Bernard, The House on East 88th Street 
  • Wells, Rosemary, Benjamin and Tulip
  • Wells, Rosemary, Noisy Nora 
  • Wells, Rosemary, Timothy Goes to School 
  • Westcott, Nadine Bernard, The Emperor's New Clothes 
  • Wildsmith, Brian, Professor Noah's Spaceship 
  • Wolf, Pearl, Gorilla Baby: The Story of Patty Cake
  • Yashima, Taro, Crow Boy 
  • Zion , Harry, Harry by the Sea 
  • Zion , Harry, No Roses for Harry
  • Zolotow, Charlotte, Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
  • Author Unknown, The Teddy Bear Book
Did you have Children's Choice Book Club books in your home as a child? What were your favorites?

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Children's Illustrator Pseudonym Chain

For anyone investigating WWII-era children's book author-illustrator bibliographies, Masha of the Golden Almanac is Natasha Simkhovitch of Knopf's 1943 Merry Christmas! She is also known as Marie Stern or Marie Simchow Stern, and under those names she illustrated one of the very first group of Little Golden Books: Three Little Kittens. More later.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Happy May from the Golden Almanac (1944)


The Golden Almanac by Dorothy Bennett, pictures by Masha, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944.


I know about Maypoles because of the Eastern Star Home/Archer School Maypole in Brentwood, and I know about May baskets because of Little Heathens, but I think these May traditions are otherwise long-lost in America. Lovely, but long-lost.

In any case, HAPPY MAY!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

"The Queen of Hearts" Illustrated by Raymond Briggs

I'm never sure if nursery rhymes are the Curriculum of Toddlerhood or just pointless 18th-century doggerel (or both), but we do have a lot of Mother Goose books and they're probably worth the cost of admission just for the frequently delightful illustrations.

Tonight we were reading Fee Fi Fo Fum, illustrated by the great Raymond Briggs, and this illustration of the Queen of Hearts really jumped out at me. Raymond Briggs is a Brit known for his children's book illustrations, including quite a few fairy tale compilations (as retold by Virginia Haviland and/or Ruth Manning-Sanders). He created this little volume, published in 1964 by Coward-McCann, "with grateful acknowledgment to [noted folklorists] Iona and Peter Opie."

"The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts,
All on a summer's day

The Knave of Hearts
He stole those tarts,
And took them clean away...

"The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts
And vowed he'd steal no more."

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Vintage Toy Coolness: 1989 Fisher-Price Post Office

Our amazing nanny Silvana stopped at a yard sale on the way to Jackson's birthday party today and picked up an amazing toy post office that another kid loved circa 1989. It was in pretty good, complete condition to start with, and then three different ladies (Silvana, my mom and me) scrubbed it clean and even removed the pen marks with Goo Gone, so it's virtually like new now. It was the hit of the day on a day when there were a zillion other entertainments, including a fire truck bed and a million kids of SUGAR. Anyway, since we all had so much fun with it, here's a look inside for you:

Fisher-Price Post Office: The front features a mail slot, a door for the postman to retrieve from and two separate P.O. boxes with locking doors.
Fisher-Price Post Office: The back features a plane stamp relief.

Fisher-Price Post Office: The kit comes with two plastic envelopes, a plastic package, two plastic picture postcards, three sheets of plastic letter paper, and a way to attach a variety of plastic stamps to the outside of all of the above!

Fisher-Price Post Office: It opens to reveal a mail safe, a clock and a stamp catalog/machine.

Fisher-Price Post Office: Store all your stuff in the embossed mailbag!

Fisher-Price Post Office: Automatic stamp dispenser really works!

Fisher-Price Post Office: Stamp dispenser fits inside one section...

Fisher-Price Post Office: Plus more storage on the back door! So much fun, so much to do! Great job, Fisher-Price toy designer of 1989!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Supplemental Reading List from 1937 History Text - Paleolithic to Middle Ages - Living Books


Glimpses into the Long Ago

GLIMPSES
INTO THE
LONG AGO


EDNA McGUIRE
Formerly Elementary School Supervisor
East Chicago ~ Indiana

With Pictures by George M. Richards

New York
The Macmillan Company
1937



DIVISION ONE: BEFORE HISTORY BEGAN

You will want to read some more stories about the people whom you meet in this book. There are several books in which you may find stories of each group of people whom you will meet. You probably cannot read everything in them, but you will like to look at the pictures and to read parts. The names of these books will be given only once, but you must remember to look in them again and again as you meet new people.

In this group of books are:


Here are some other books in which you can find stories of the people of the Dawn Age:

The Early Cave-Men -- Katherine E. Dopp
The Later Cave-Men -- Katherine E. Dopp
In the Beginning -- Eva V. I. Erleigh
How the World Grew Up -- Grace Kiner
The First Days of Man -- Frederic Arnold Kummer
Man’s Long Climb -- Marion F. Lansing
Dan-Hur and the First Farmers -- William L. Nida
Taming the Animals -- William K. Nida
From Then till Now -- Julia Augusta Schwartz
How the Present Came from the Past, Book One -- Margaret E. Wells

George M. Richards illustration of life on the Nile in ancient Egypt.

DIVISION TWO: PEOPLE TAKE ON SETTLED WAYS OF LIVING

{Egypt}

If you like fairy stories, try Sokar and the Crocodile, by Alice W. Howard.

If you are a very good reader, you will like Long Ago in Egypt, by Louise Lamprey.

An easy book is Inventions and Discoveries of Ancient Times, by William L. Nida.

Look also in these books:

How the Present Came from the Past, Book Two -- Margaret E. Wells
Man’s Long Climb -- Marion F. Lansing
From Then Till Now -- Julia Augusta Schwartz
The Princess Runs Away -- Alice W. Howard
The First Days of Knowledge -- Frederic Arnold Kummer

{Babylon-Assyria}

If you like to look at pictures, you will enjoy seeing A First Bible, by J. W. Maury, with pictures by Helen Sewell.

You can find very good stories of the Hebrews in The Garden of Eden, by George Hodges.

If you read well, try Metten of Tyre, by Helena Carus. This is the story of a little Phoenician boy.

Look for new stories in these books:

Man’s Long Climb -- Marion F. Lansing
In the Beginning -- Eva V. I. Erleigh
The First Days of Knowledge -- Frederic Arnold Kummer

DIVISION THREE: LONG AGO AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

{Ancient Greece}

You will find the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey told for you in two books:

The Iliad for Boys and Girls, by Alfred F. Church
The Odyssey for Boys and Girls, by Alfred F. Church

An easy and interesting story which tells much of how people lived is Theras and His Town, by Caroline Dale Snedeker.

Two books which you will enjoy if you read well are:


Look for the story of Cleon, the Greek boy, in Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago to Now, by Jane Andrews.

{Roman Empire}

You should look for easy stories about the Romans in these books:

In the Beginning, by Eva V. I. Erleigh
Mighty Men, by Eleanor Farjeon

Look for the story of Horatius, the Roman boys, in Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago to Now, by Jane Andrews.

Some books in which you can find other stories of the Romans are:

The Story of the Romans, by Helene Adeline Guerber

DIVISION FOUR: NEW LANDS AND WAYS OF LIVING

An interesting and easy book about those Northmen who were often called Vikings is Reindeer of the Waves, by Ruth Harshaw.

Two books in which you may find some of the old German myths and legends are:

Siegfried and Beowulf, by Zenaide A. Ragozin
Sons of the Volsungs, by Dorothy Grant Hosford

In Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago to Now, by Jane Andrews, you will find a story of a Saxon boy who helped to make England.

{Middle Ages}

Two books which good readers will enjoy are A Little Shepherd of Provence and Gabriel and the Hour Book. Both are written by Evaleen Stein.

You can also learn much of how people lived in Stories of Our European Forefathers, by Henry Smith Chapman.

Look in Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago to Now, by Jane Andrews, for the story of a little page of the Middle Ages.

Behind the Battlements, by Gertrude Linnell, is an interesting story about life in a castle in those times.

You will find stories of the Crusades in these books:

Page, Esquire and Knight, a Book of Chivalry, by Marion F. Lansing
From Then Till Now, by Julia Augusta Schwartz
The Prince and the Page, by Charlotte Yonge
Stories of Our European Forefathers, by Henry Smith Chapman