Little Golden Books facts for kids
A typical example of the Little Golden Books logo.
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| Author | Margaret Wise Brown, Edith Thacher Hurd, Janette Sebring Lowrey, Phyllis Fraser, many others |
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| Illustrator | Corinne Malvern, Tibor Gergely, Gustaf Tenggren, Feodor Rojankovsky, Richard Scarry, Eloise Wilkin, Garth Williams, many others |
| Country | U.S. |
| Language | English |
| Discipline | nature, science, Bible stories, nursery rhyme, fairy tales, toys, comics, cartoons, movies, television |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster (1942–1958, 2021-present) Western Publishing (1942–2001) Golden Press (1958–2001) Random House (1998–present) |
| Published | 1942–present |
| Media type | hardcover |
Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, founded in 1942. The eighth book in the series, The Poky Little Puppy, is the top-selling children's book of all time. Many of the Little Golden Books have become bestsellers, including The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle, Scuffy the Tugboat, and The Little Red Hen. Several of the illustrators for the Little Golden Books later became influential within the children's book industry, including Corinne Malvern, Tibor Gergely, Gustaf Tenggren, Feodor Rojankovsky, Richard Scarry, Eloise Wilkin, and Garth Williams.
Many books in the Little Golden Books series deal with nature, science, Bible stories, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales. Christmas titles are published every year. Some Little Golden Books and related products have featured children's characters from other media, such as Sesame Street, The Muppets, Disney, Looney Tunes, Barbie, Power Rangers, Thomas the Tank Engine, and others. Television and movie tie-ins have been particularly popular. Over the years Hopalong Cassidy, Cheyenne, Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Captain Kangaroo, Mister Rogers and Donny and Marie Osmond have appeared in Little Golden Books.
The series started with Simon & Schuster; Western Printing and Lithographing Company in Racine, Wisconsin 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 is the current publisher of the series.
Despite the changes of detail that occurred over the years, the Little Golden Books maintains 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 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 the Little Golden Books has created a variety of children's books in various forms of media, including records, tapes, videos, and even toys and games. Some titles have appeared in several different formats (including "A Golden Book").
Writers and illustrators
Many popular authors and illustrators have worked on Little Golden Books and related products, including:
- Sheilah Beckett
- Brian Biggs
- Mary Blair
- Ann Braybooks
- Margaret Wise Brown
- Kathleen N. Daly
- Sue Fliess
- Tibor Gergely
- Florence Johnson
- Elizabeth Orton Jones
- Phyllis Krasilovsky
- Lucy Sprague Mitchell
- Corinne Malvern
- Jim McDermott
- Ann McGovern
- Jean Miller
- Barbra Mills
- Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen
- Seymour Reit
- Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky
- Patricia and Richard Scarry
- Bob Staake
- Gustaf Tenggren
- Charles Spain Verral
- Jan Wahl
- Jane Werner Watson
- Eloise Wilkin
- Garth Williams
- Herbert Zim
Contemporary art
In 2010, Ryan Jude Novelline revealed the "Golden Book Gown", a "one-of-a-kind fairytale-inspired gown almost entirely from Golden Books...[featuring] a 22,000-square-inch page-turning skirt and a form-fitting bodice made from the spines".
Images for kids
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Little Red Hen cover
