Children's Book Illustrations by Maud & Miska Petersham, 1925 - 26 (flickr link)

- Please follow this link to my Flickr set!
(44 images)

These illustrations are from a couple of books that my Mom had as a little kid - - 'Tales Told in Holland' and 'Nursery Friends From France'.

They were part of the 'My Travelship' series, published by Olive Beaupre Miller's Bookhouse For Children.

The series was intended to educate children about different cultures of the world.

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Both books were published just a few years before husband-and-wife team Maud and Miska Petersham began writing children's books as well as providing illustrations.

Biographical Note: (via Northwest Digital Archives)

"Born September 20, 1888 in Hungary, Miska Petersham came to the U.S. in 1912.
"He met Maud Fuller (born August 5, 1890) when both were working for the advertising agency International Art Service in New York, and they were married in 1917.
"Their first book was published in 1929, and they went on to have lengthy careers as authors and illustrators of children's books.
"They won the Caldecott Medal in 1946 for The Rooster Crows: A Book of Children's Rhymes and Jingles.
"Miska Petersham died May 15, 1960.
"Maud Petersham died November 29, 1971."







- Please follow this link to my Flickr set!
(44 images)

Nostalgia for the Scholastic Book Club, circa '60's & '70's (flickr link)

Please link to my flickr set:
Nostalgia for the Scholastic Book Club,
circa '60's & '70's

I know that Scholastic Book Services is still around these days, I guess they're more successful than ever, what with their exclusive deal on the U.S.-released Harry Potter books and all...

...But I can only hope they still have classroom 'book club' operations going, and that kids today are still getting excited about it.

I remember in grade school how freaking fun it was to place an order for these inexpensive kids books, and that there may have been no greater thrill than when those books arrived in the classroom and were distributed.

Like, just electric.

Perhaps the only comparable experience I feel nowadays is when I receive an Amazon dividend via my credit card.

It's nice, but it's not like that ol' Scholastic Book buzz.

The small collection of images I've posted at flickr is very vaguely chronological, and displays books in two or three different categories:

First and foremost, the Scholastic I remember was always about 'Junior Lit'.

Whether grounded in 'real life' events or problems, or flights of fancy with larger-than-life characters, there was always something for kids to hang onto and learn from.

(I still sort of remember 'The Shark In Charlie's Window' - - pretty sure that's right - - It was about a kid who made a pet out of a levitating shark. Even if the details are fuzzy, it's a hard premise to forget.)

Then there were the adaptations of movies and TV, novelizations chock-full of photos of your favorite stars.

Also popular - - at least with me, at the time - - were the 'behind the scenes' books about those same stars, or 'in depth' looks at the latest TV shows and trends, or at that season's charting pop music stars.

Please link to my flickr set:

Nostalgia for the Scholastic Book Club,
circa '60's & '70's

(ADDENDUM, 2/6/08: 42 new images added! More 'junior lit' cover scans, plus illustrations too!)

Enjoy!


























(Another ADDENDUM, 5/16/08: 125 new images added! More of everything!
More links to author/illustrator info, and back cover images, too!)














































(UPDATE, 11/17/08: 39 more images added, bringing the current total to 226!)

Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? (flickr link)

This is a book I enjoyed as a little kid, and it's still a pretty interesting little artifact to look over now.

Written by Helen Palmer, with photographs by Lynn Fayman, it was published in 1963 by Random House Beginner Books.

As a child, when I was first reading this book I already didn't quite relate to the types of fun the hero enjoyed. But I still thought he was just about the epitome of what any 'real cool kid' should be.

Author Helen Palmer Geisel was the first wife of Ted 'Dr. Seuss' Geisel. She collaborated with photographer Lynn Fayman on two other books in the 'Beginner' series, though her most popular children's book was the more traditionally illustrated 'Fish Out Of Water'.

As the types of stories commonly told in children's books have changed a bit over the years, this book has become better known for its now-uncommon portrayals of guns and other dangerous pursuits.
























There has also been a small amount of online notoriety surrounding this book, as rumors were started purporting this out-of-print book by 'Mrs. Seuss' to be a 'banned' book by Dr. Seuss.

You can read more on that bit of intrigue at Snopes, The Urban Legend Reference Pages (click for link)

The Snopes article also supplies some great capsule information on Helen Palmer Geisel and the rise of the 'Beginner Books' imprint.


To see some more images from this book, please follow the link to my flickr set:
'Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?'

I recommend the 'slideshow' mode for viewing those pages. Enjoy!

So - - I wonder what ever happened to the hyper-active kid in the book?
I wonder what he's got planned for Next Saturday these days?

Excerpts from Richard Scarry's 'Golden Book Of Manners', 1962

Millions of copies of the hundreds of books by Children's author and illustrator Richard Scarry (1919 - 1994) have been entertaining and molding young minds the world over for decades now.

Looking through the pages of this particular book I'm struck by the visual humor of his artwork.

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There are the simple juxtapositions of size, and some gentle incongruities presented in vivid colors, but there seems to be some more subtle elements woven in here and there as well. Or maybe it's me, maybe I just want there to be.

It would appear that Scarry was a bit of a misanthrope in real life, so a quiet lampooning of the proper etiquette of social situations doesn't seem too big a stretch.

'The editors' acknowledge that animals are better behaved than most children.

Despite any pesky common sense issues, an elephant is offered a tiny chair that clearly will not support him, and a small mouse-girl is cajoled not to be shy around a kitty-cat.

I like the tiger hanging up it's leopard-skin coat, too.









































































































































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I'm also amused that the wonderful anthropomorphic animal characters seem to possess more personality than the human children.

Sitting on a train next to a warthog, to me they seem to be thinking to themselves nothing beyond, "I'm NOT staring and pointing, I'm NOT staring and pointing..."

It's just intriguing to see how things work in Scarry's world.

I'd like to see a giraffe putting on its little sailor suit. I'm very curious regarding the drift of the phone message the lion is leaving. And I respect that even the phreak-flag flyin' lion knows to doff his rave hat as the teeny-tiny display of patriotism passes by.

A couple of Scarry links:

A fascinating flickr photoset that catalogs some ot the curious 'P.C. update' differences between the 1963 and 1991 editions of Scarry's 'Best Word Book Ever'.

Scarry led a colorful life, and so there is a very colorful bio page tucked away at the diabolical Rotten.Com.

Feodor Rojankovsky illustrated print ad, 1947

Illustrator Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky's work appeared in a great many children's books dating from the early 1940's until his death in 1970.

Here's an example from a 1947 magazine ad for Puss n' Boots cat food...

There are several places around the web where you can read about the artist and see other (better) examples of his work.

There's a good listing to be found at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

His Wikipedia entry has several further links cited, including some of the notable erotic drawings from his book, 'Paris Spring'.

Here's the link to a nice Rojankovsky gallery page, which it turns out is nested at the VERY impressive 'Alphabet of Illustrators' site, which in turn is one part of a HUGE site, 'The Visual Telling of Stories', some of which appears to be still under construction - - AND is itself also part of a further even more immense graphic art site still under construction. Golly Gosh - - PLEASE EXPLORE!!

The Perilous World of Uncle Wiggly: Illustrations by Lansing Campbell (flickr link)

Before being immortalized as a children's board game, Uncle Wiggly was the beloved hero of a long series of children's books.

American author Howard Roger Garis (1873 - 1962) wrote dozens and dozens of Uncle Wiggly stories, beginning in 1910.

Before being collected into books, the first short stories initially ran in a New Jersey newspaper, the Newark News.

The formula for the stories remained a fairly constant cycle of commerce mixed with confrontation.
Lovable elder rabbit Uncle Wiggly runs some errand or another, usually going to fetch an item requested by his muskrat housekeeper, Nurse Jane.

During his outing he runs into one of his many friendly animal pals, a small bit of mischief or adventure ensues, and Wiggly is then ambushed by one of several large 'bad' animals, who usually want to 'nibble his ears'.

More often than not, whatever item he's just purchased is then succesfully used as a weapon to aid in his deliverance. Wiggly is not unlike a lagomorphic MacGiver in this respect.

'The Bunny Gentleman' also seems to be fond of employing jovial banter during these potentially life-threatening encounters. The practice reminds me a bit of Spiderman, or perhaps Robin, The Boy Wonder*, though if I were a bit more well-read I wouldn't be surprised to discover it goes back at least as far as The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Musketeers, Cyrano, or part of that crowd...

In addition to tales of Uncle Wiggly, during his career Howard R. Garis (using several different pseudonyms) wrote many books in various classic junior lit series, including Tom Swift, The Bobbsey Twins, and The Campfire Girls. His wife and children wrote similar material, also using pen names. Collectively they authored over 1000 books.

The images in this set are from 'Uncle Wiggly's Picture Book', first published in 1922. This edition was printed in 1940, by The Platt & Munk Co.

I'm a bit surprised to not find more information available regarding the illustrator Lansing Campbell. A prolific artist, Campbell's work would appear in many other children's books over the years, including (predictably) Bre'r Rabbit.

Perhaps you have some background info to provide regarding Lansing Campbell? If so, please leave a comment on this post for all of us.


Link to my flickr set: The Perilous World of Uncle Wiggly: Illustrations by Lansing Campbell

ADDENDUM 5/19/07: Aha! Here's a bit more info on Lansing 'Lang' Campbell over at Lambiek. Thanks to Lex10 from Glyph Jockey.


*(Speaking of The Boy Wonder, I can't imagine a more off-subject reference, so here it is!)

Gustaf Tenggren's 'Tell-It-Again' Fairy-Tale Illustrations, 1942

Illustrator Gustaf Tenggren was born in Sweden in 1896, and emigrated to the US in the early twenties. He is probably best known by his work for The Walt Disney Company, beginning with the film 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.

After leaving Disney, his artwork style evolved from his 'Old World-Rackham-esque' look to the flatter, more contemporary look he would use for children's books.

He worked for Little Golden Books from 1942 - 1962, providing illustrations for 'The Poky Little Puppy' and many others.

These are all images appearing in 'The Tenggren Tell-It-Again Book', 1942, Little-Brown.

A few links to more Tenggren art online:

Some great examples of his fuller, more detailed 'traditional' style from the '20's & '30's can be found here and here.

There's also a bit of of Tenggren's work included in this fascinating gallery page of 'Arabian Nights' images.

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