The Little Golden Books is an American series of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

, published since 1942. ''

The Poky Little Puppy ''The Poky Little Puppy'' is a Children's literature, children's book written by Janette Sebring Lowrey and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren. It was first published in 1942 in literature, 1942 as one of the first twelve books in the Simon & Schuste ...

'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have become bestsellers, including '' Tootle'', '' Scuffy the Tugboat'', ''

The Little Red Hen ''The Little Red Hen'' is an American fable first collected by Mary Mapes Dodge in ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' in 1874. The story is meant to teach children the importance of hard work and personal initiative. Plot A hen living on a farm finds ...

'', and '' Doctor Dan the Bandage Man''. Several of its illustrators later became influential within the children's book industry, including

Corinne Malvern Corinne Malvern (December 13, 1901 – November 9, 1956) was an American commercial artist, active as a fashion advertising artist and illustrator of children's books between the early 1930s and her death in 1956. She painted magazine covers an ...

Tibor Gergely Tibor Gergely (August 3, 1900 – January 13, 1978) was a Hungarian-American artist best known for his illustration of popular children's picture books. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. ...

Gustaf Tenggren Gustaf Adolf Tenggren (November 3, 1896 – April 9, 1970) was a Swedes, Swedish illustrator and animator. He is known for his Arthur Rackham-influenced fairy-tale style and use of silhouetted figures with caricatured faces. Tenggren was a chief i ...

, Feodor Rojankovsky,

Richard Scarry Richard McClure Scarry (; June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994) was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his ''Best Ever'' book series that tak ...

, Eloise Wilkin, and

Garth Williams Garth Montgomery Williams (April 16, 1912 – May 8, 1996) was an American artist who came to prominence in the American Post-war, postwar era as an illustrator of children's books. Many of the books he illustrated have become classics of Americ ...

. Many books in the Little Golden Books series deal with

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

stories,

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

s, and

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

titles are published every year. Some Little Golden Books and related products have featured popular characters from other media, such as

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'', ''

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

'', ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', ''

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

'', ''

Super Mario (also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...

'', ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'', ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

'', ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...

'', ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'', ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', ''

Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional, anthropomorphised tank locomotive who originated from the British children's books ''The Railway Series'', created and written by Wilbert Awdry with his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, first publish ...

'', and others. Film, television, and movie properties have been particularly popular source material.

Hopalong Cassidy Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He wa ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with anot ...

Rin Tin Tin Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (October 10, 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, ...

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...

Mister Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), better known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterianism, Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the presc ...

, and

Donny Donnie or Donny is a familiar form (hypocorism) of the masculine given name Donald, Donal, Don, or Donovan. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Donny Baldwin, American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and Starsh ...

and

Marie Osmond Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and businesswoman. She is known for her girl next door, girl-next-door image and her decades-long career in many different areas. Her musi ...

have also appeared in Little Golden Books. The line has also published occasional biographies; examples include

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

and

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...

. The series started with publishing firm

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

; Western Printing and Lithographing Company in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

was Simon & Schuster's partner in the Little Golden Books venture, with Western handling print operations. Ownership and control of the series have changed several times since; today,

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

is its current publisher. Despite changes in detail, the Little Golden Books maintain a distinctive appearance. A copy of ''The Poky Little Puppy'' bought today is essentially the same as one printed in 1942. Both are readily recognizable as Little Golden Books. At the time of the series'

golden anniversary A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"স� ...

in 1992, Golden Books claimed that a billion and a half Little Golden Books had been sold. Although the Little Golden Books have remained the backbone of the product line, the enterprise that produced them has created a variety of children's books in various forms of media, including records, tapes, videos, and toys and games. Some titles have appeared in several different formats (including "A Golden Book").

History

Georges Duplaix, head of Artists and Writers Guild Inc. (a division of Western Publishing), came up with an idea for a new imprint as he was developing books for children. Meanwhile, a shared printing plant led Western and Simon & Schuster to develop a close relationship. In 1938, Western and Simon & Schuster released their first joint creation, ''A Children’s History''. Duplaix had the idea to produce a colorful children's book that was more durable and affordable than those being published at that time, which often sold for US$2 to $3 (approximately $ to $ now). With the help of his fellow Guild colleague Lucile Olge, Duplaix contacted Albert Leventhal and Leon Shimkin with his idea (Albert and Leon worked for Simon & Schuster, and Albert served as the company's vice president and sales manager). The team agreed to launch twelve titles simultaneously under the banner of the Little Golden Books Series. Each book would consist of 42 pages, with 28 pages printed in two colors and 14 pages in four colors. The books would be bound with staples. Initially considering a price of 50 cents per book, there was hesitation due to existing competition in that price range. By increasing the print run to 50,000 copies per title instead of 25,000, they calculated that the books could be sold affordably at 25 cents each (equivalent to approximately $5 today). Mary Reed, Ph.D., a professor at the

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

, served as initial editor of the series. The first 12 titles were printed in September 1942 and released to stores in October: #'' Three Little Kittens'', by Marie Simchow Stern #''Bedtime Stories'', illus.

#''

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

'', by

Phyllis Fraser Phyllis Cerf Wagner (born Helen Brown Nichols; April 13, 1916 – November 24, 2006), also known as Phyllis Fraser, was an American socialite, writer, publisher, and actress. She was a co-founder of Beginner Books. Early life Fraser was born ...

, illus. Gertrude E. Espenscheid #''Prayers for Children'', by Rachel Taft Dixon #''

'', illus. Rudolf Freund #''Nursery Songs'', by Leah Gale, illus.

#''The Alphabet from A to Z'', by Leah Gale, illus. Vivienne Blake and Richard Peck #''

'', by Janette Sebring Lowrey, illus.

#''The Golden Book of Fairy Tales'', by Winfield Scott Hoskins #''Baby's Book of Objects'' #''The Animals of Farmer Jones'', by Leah Gale, illus.

#''This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes'', by Phyllis Cerf Wagner, illus. Roberta Harris Pfafflin Petty Three editions totaling 1.5 million books sold out within five months of publication in 1942.

editor Dorothy A. Bennett also worked with Duplaix on the Little Golden Books. Bennett became the editor of the franchise, producing books by such authors and illustrators as

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' (1947) and ''The Runaway Bunny'' (1942), both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the ...

Clement Hurd Clement Gazzam Hurd (January 12, 1908 – February 5, 1988) was an American artist. He is known for illustrations of children's picture books, especially collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown, including ''Goodnight Moon'' (1947) and '' Th ...

Edith Thacher Hurd Edith Thacher Hurd (September 14, 1910 – January 25, 1997) was an American writer of children's books. She published 70 books in her lifetime,Saxon, Wolfgang"William Rufus Scott, 86, Pioneer In Children's Book Publishing,"''The New York Times'' ...

, and

. Bennett authored several Golden Books, and introduced some of the first recorded books for children with

Little Golden Records Golden Records was a record label based in New York City. It was conceived and founded in 1948 by the Grammy Award-winning children's music producer Arthur Shimkin, then a new recruit in the S&S business department. Shimkin went on to found S ...

in 1948. The series underwent an expansion when

Lucy Sprague Mitchell Lucy Sprague Mitchell (July 2, 1878 – October 15, 1967) was an American educator and children's writer, and the founder of Bank Street College of Education. Early life and education Lucy Sprague was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter o ...

(educator and founder of Bank Street Nursery School now

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 ful ...

) joined. A strong supporter of realistic children's literature, Mitchell created the Bank Street Writer's Laboratory. Works coming from this institution became the new basis for the Little Golden Book series, with characters and situations often inspired by the very locale of the Bank School. As historian Leonard S. Marcus writes: In 1958,

sold its interest in Little Golden Books to

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...

. The price of Little Golden Books rose to 29¢ in 1962. Western introduced a line of Big Little Golden Books for slightly older children aged five and up. Some titles from this series range from brand new stories (such as ''The House That Had Enough)'' to reprints (such as '' The Monster at the End of This Book''). In the 1980s, Golden Books introduced Golden Melody Books. Titles from this series included a long-lasting electronic chip that played music when readers open those books. Songs featured in this series range from popular children's songs such as ''Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,'' to songs from children's TV and family movies including'' People in Your Neighborhood'' from ''Sesame Street'' and ''Heigh-Ho'' from ''Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.'' In the year 2000, Encore Software produced a series of "Little Golden Books" titles for CD ROM, including ''

'', ''

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...

'', ''

The Velveteen Rabbit ''The Velveteen Rabbit'' (or ''How Toys Become Real'') is a British children's book written by Margery Williams (also known as Margery Williams Bianco) and illustrated by William Nicholson (artist), William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of ...

'', '' Tootle'', and '' The Saggy Baggy Elephant''. These six individual titles were some of the first major software releases to be produced entirely in Macromedia Flash. In 2001,

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

acquired Little Golden Books for about $85 million. At that point, nearly 15 million copies of ''The Poky Little Puppy'' had been sold, including copies in various languages. In 2015, with the release of Little Golden Book adaptations of the first six installments of the ''

'' saga on August 25, the Little Golden Book adaptation of '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' became the first-ever Little Golden Book in history to come from a film that was rated PG-13 by the

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, the mini-major Amazon MGM Studios, as well as the video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. F ...

. Months later, on April 12, 2016, a Little Golden Book adaptation of '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'', the next film in the saga, also rated PG-13, was released. This release opened the door for further Little Golden Books that drew upon PG-13 rated licensed film properties; some adaptations in this criterion include the 2016 reboot of ''Ghostbusters'', characters and storylines from the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

, and ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

''. In 2023, a biography about singer-songwriter

became the fastest-selling in the series' history, selling one million copies in seven months.

Writers and illustrators

Many popular authors and illustrators have worked on Little Golden Books and related products, including:

In popular culture

Contemporary art

The Golden Book Gown by Ryan Jude Novelline

In 2010, Ryan Jude Novelline revealed the "Golden Book Gown", a "one-of-a-kind fairytale-inspired gown almost entirely from Golden Books... eaturinga 22,000-square-inch page-turning skirt and a form-fitting bodice made from the spines".Diane Pham
"High Fashion as Eco-Friendly Child's Play"
, ''Chevrolet News'', 10/1/2012

Homages

In 2015, during the Diamond celebration at ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

'', the Disney Imagineers brought the 1955 Little Golden Book story ''Little Man at Disneyland'' to life by featuring a recreation of Patrick Begorra's home in a tree trunk somewhere in Adventureland at the park for visitors to find.

References

Sources consulted

* "A Birthday Celebration for Golden Books..." ''Publishers' Weekly''. 221(15):24. April 9, 1982. * "Simon & Schuster Inc." ''International Directory of Company Histories''. 4:671-672. 1991. * Greason, Rebecca. ''Tomart's Price Guide to Golden Book Collectibles''. Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead Book Company, 1991. * Santi, Steve. ''Collecting Little Golden Books: a Collector's Identification and Price Guide'', 3rd Edition. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1998. * Marcus, Leonard S. ''Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became An American Icon Along the Way''. New York: Golden Books, 2007.

Notes

External links

Penguin Random House Series Little Golden Book website
{{NBCUniversal Book series introduced in 1942 Series of children's books Early childhood education Early childhood education in the United States . Penguin Random House Universal Pictures franchises Bertelsmann franchises Western Publishing

History

Writers and illustrators

In popular culture

Contemporary art

Homages

See also

References

Sources consulted

Notes

External links