by Leonard S. Marcus
The reminiscences began as soon as this book appeared on our shelves. Flicking through the pages led to intense discussion about people’s favourite Little Golden Books, and the joy of picking them up with your groceries (if you’d been good).
Hard to believe it has been 65 years since this publishing juggernaut was launched, with the express intention of making picture books available to children – at 25¢ each (in America) they were affordable, and parents didn’t worry too much if they were mistreated. They were made available at department stores and chain stores, not just bookshops who, at the time, tended to sell children’s books only at Christmas time! There has been over two billion Little Golden Books sold worldwide, with The Poky Little Puppy the greatest seller – well over 15 millions copies worldwide!
Yes, there are some of questionable quality – but with authors and illustrators such as Garth Williams and Margaret Wise Brown – and many other award winners – they are worthy of consideration. Now I know that Eloise Wilkin was the illustrator who had such cuddly children, with dimples on their elbows. (There’s even a brief mention of Nikita Khrushchev in relation to Wilkin’s Baby Dear doll.)
With the annivesary, many older titles have been reissued as Big Golden books, and there are collections available, including Sleepytime tales, which contains:
- Poky little puppy (Janette Sebring Lowrey, illus Gustaf Tenggren)
- Baby dear (Esther Wilkin, illus Eloise Wilkin)
- Color kittens (Margaret Wise Brown, illus Alice & Martin Provensen)
- Good night, little bear (Patsy Scarry, illus Richard Scarry)
- Wonderful house (Margaret Wise Brown, illus JP Miller)
- Sleepy book (Margaret Wise Brown, illus Garth Williams)
- Three bears (illus Rob Herreran)
- Boy and the tigers (Helen Bannerman, illus Valeria Petrone)
- How the turtle got its shell (Justine & Ron Fontes, illus Keiko Motoyama)
I asked staff what their favourite books were. Here are some of the responses:
Lucky Mrs Ticklefeather – who wore a hat with a long feather on it and had a pet puffin.
My kitten (not The Shy Little Kitten) because I loved the illustrations and the little girl has blond braids like I did.
The Musicians of Bremen – I was taken with the idea of animals being musicians (I was learning the piano from the age of 3½-4.
Other favourites:
My personal favourites: The monster at the end of this book – terrified me, every time – just in case the ending was different. Sleeping Beauty – NOT the Disney version, but one with illustrations from the 14th century (the ladies had hennin – those very high pointy hats), Color Kittens, Busy Timmy, What do daddies do all day?, Tootle, I can fly
If you have a favourite Little Golden Book, email the kids team.
For more information visit Random House
Annie, Community Outreach Team, Central Library | 
and became an American icon along the way