Truly Golden Little Golden Book

from The Boy with a Drum

Several years ago, my family inherited my mother-in-law's, my husband's and his siblings' Little Golden Books. I do not remember reading many Little Golden Books growing up and the Little Golden Books that, as a young mother, I had seen sitting on grocery store shelves did not intrigue me. In fact, I viewed most of the modern Golden Books as pure twaddle and avoided them. Our Little Golden Book inheritance caused me to view Golden Books in a whole new light. There was a time when Golden Books were written and published to help children learn, grow in virtue, and wonder.

We Help Daddy

My first delight came when I found out that the original edition of The Christmas Story, by Jane Werner Watson and illustrated by Eloise Wilkin, contained the "Magnificat" in its entirety. How could this be? Well, in days gone by, the publishers at Golden Book obviously didn't mind including Catholic content. It probably helped that they had Mary Reed working with them too. I have long suspected that Mary Reed was none other than Mary Reed Newland (or her mother), but that is a topic for another day. Unfortunately, in later publications of The Christmas Story, the "Magnificat" has been removed. Like The Christmas Story, other truly golden Little Golden Books have also been republished. However, as with the Christmas book, some of the republications are revised which means some of the text is omitted and/or some of the illustrations have been changed.

from The Poky Little Puppy (1942 edition)

A few of the Little Golden Books that my young children enjoy are:

Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams
Pussy Willow by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
We Help Mommy by Jeanne Cushman, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (out of print)
Nursery Songs arranged by Leah Gale, illustrated by Corrine Malvern (out of print)
The Boy With a Drum by David Harrison, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (out of print)
Busy Timmy by Kathryn and Byron Jackson, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (out of print)
Little Mommy by Sharon Kane
The Poky Little Puppy by Janet Sebring Lowrey, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
My First Counting Book by Lillian Moore, illustrated by Garth Williams
The Bunny Book by Patricia M. Scarry, illustrated by Richard Scarry
We Help Daddy by Mini Stein (out of print)
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (out of print)
Wonders of Nature by Jane Werner Watson, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
Baby Listens by Ester Wilkin, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
Good Little Bad Little Girl by Ester Wilkin, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (out of print)
Baby Farm Animals by Garth Williams

from Nursery Songs

Some of the out-of-print Little Golden Books mentioned above can be found in Eloise Wilkin Stories (A Little Golden Book Treasury).

from We Help Mommy found in Eloise Wilkin Stories