Most people, when asked about their favorite book, will invariably include a book they read as a child. Hemingway famously proclaimed that "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn". Twain's book, like its predecessor, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, were books whose intended audience was young readers. Such books speak to us on multiple levels. As literature, they are well-crafted and clever with memorable characters and conflicts, but they matter to us for more than these reasons because we discovered them at a formative period of our lives. Their ideas helped to form our own, and so they are more personal ...
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2010. Original watercolor from Christmas in the Time of Billy Lee. Signed. (18 by 14 in.). More about Grandma Tucker Explains to Ellie about Secrets within Snow
2003. Original watercolor from The Three Silly Billies. Signed. Framed. (20 1/4 by 16 1/8 in.). More about Big Mama Not Too Happy About This Troll's Toll
2001. Original watercolor from The Three Silly Billies. Signed. Framed. (20 by 16 5/8 in.). More about So They All Ran
(c. 2003). Original watercolor from The Three Silly Billies. Framed. (20 1/4 by 17 1/8 in.). More about The Three Silly Billies, Cover Art
NY: Simon & Schuster, 2005. First edition. Signed by Moser. An updated take on the familiar tale of billy goats crossing the troll's bridge, written by Margie Palatini and lushly illustrated with Moser's watercolors. Very fine in pictorial boards, with matching fine dust wrapper. More about The Three Silly Billies
Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee WPA, (c. 1935). Quarto. 14ff. First and presumably only edition. Title-page vignette and eleven brightly colored prints by Kendrick Bell. The accompanying rhyming verse touches upon each animal depicted. The Milwaukee Handicraft Project was an offshoot of the WPA that was founded by a faculty member of... More about At the Zoo. A Book of Block-prints
(c. 1956). Watercolor and ink on paper, measuring 11 by 8 1/2 inches (28x22cm). Matted and framed. Signed by Bemelmans. This shoulder-length portrait of Bemelmans’s most enduring character is done in the later, bold style encountered in Madeline and the Bad Hat, and it shows red-headed Madeline wearing her characteristic... More about Watercolor drawing of Madeline
(N.p. c. 1886). A signed original drawing in ink over pencil by Birch, who is best known for illustrating Burnett’s classic work for children, Little Lord Fauntleroy, published in 1886. Fauntleroy is immediately recognizable in his plumed hat and lace-trimmed velvet suit, standing near a little girl in a costume..... More about "Fauntleroy and the Greenaway Girl"
1986. Original ink designs for an alphabet formed from cats, signed and dated by the artist. Blegvad was a prolific children's book artist, whose atmospheric ink drawings are often compared to Gorey and Sendak. His illustrations graced more than 100 picture books, of which the best known is probably Mary... More about Cat alphabet
NY: John H. Eggers, 1917. Eight volumes, 12pp. each (wrappers not included). Replete with illustrations using an orange and green color palette, the set consists of "The Chocolate Man," "Old Mother Hubbard," "The Gorgon's Head," "Child's Garden of Verse," "Ali Baba," "East of the Sun and West of the Moon,"... More about The Chocolate Man and Other Stories
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1866. 62pp. One of six titles in the fourth series of miniatures authored by popular children's writer Barrow under the noms de plume Aunt Fanny and Aunt Laura. Noted by Bradbury as "high spots in any miniature book collection," the Aunt Fanny volumes offer... More about Miss Nason's Story
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1862. 64pp. Well-known Bible stories retold for children by popular children's writer Barrow under the nom de plume Aunt Laura. This title is part of the Aunt Laura series of moral-instruction books, noted by Bradbury as "high spots in any miniature book collection." Bound... More about New Testament Stories
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1863. 64pp. A moral tale about the contest for the best composition in Miss Derby’s class at Pendleton Academy, from the set Little Walter’s Library. General fading to covers, some rubbing on edges, lacking title page, else very good. A.e.g. Bookplate. (Welsh 4311, Bondy..... More about The Silver Medal
Waikiki (Honolulu): Fisher Corporation, 1946. Quarto. (126)pp. Illustrated with twenty-nine color plates by Marcel Cailliet, which richly depict different aspects of a Hawaiian luau. Images of the food, dancing, music, and people together evoke the joy and excitement of a traditional luau. Each illustration is preceded by a transparent guard... More about Hawaiian Lu'au
NY: D. Appleton and Co., 1866. Octavo. (v)ff., 192pp. First edition, second issue. With forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel. Carroll’s enduring tale of a child’s dreamworld was first issued in 1865 by Macmillan and Company of London, but Carroll and Tenniel were unhappy with the print quality of the illustrations..... More about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Portland, ME: Bailey & Noyes, n.d. 64mo. 16pp. A moral tale of two orphaned children and the retribution of their wicked uncle, with six woodcut illustrations. The images show a depth of detail, with particular care applied to the leaves on the trees and the feathers on an angel's wings..... More about The Affecting History of the Children in the Wood. Seventh Series No. 8
London: Simpkin, Marshall and Son, (c. 1865). 32mo. 30pp. Illustrated throughout with detailed wood engravings depicting creatures for each letter of the alphabet, from the Welsh goat and hare to the yellow-hammer bird and zebra, as well as a frontispiece of a spaniel and a decorative tailpiece. Each animal is... More about An Alphabet of Animals
New Haven: Babcock, Sidney, (c. 1845). 16mo. 16pp. Illustrated with title-page vignette of the Crucifixion and seven wood engravings. A collection of seven stories from the Old and New Testaments, retold for children: Moses Viewing Canaan; Samson Carrying Away the Gates of Gaza; David and Goliath; John Baptizing Christ; Water... More about Bible Stories and Pictures from the Old and New Testaments
Worcester, MA: J. Grout, Jr., (c. 1840). 32mo. 24pp. Illustrated with a frontispiece, title-page vignette, four woodcuts, and a tailpiece. Bound in green printed wrappers illustrated with a small vignette to the front cover, and a larger woodcut of a man herding cattle to the rear cover. Corners of covers... More about Child's Book of Poetry, with Engravings
Worcester: Jonathan Grout, Jr., (c. 1840). 32mo. 24pp. Illustrated with a frontispiece, title-page vignette, six woodcuts, and a tailpiece. Bound in green printed wrappers, illustrated with a small vignette to the front cover and a larger woodcut of a man next to a stream to the rear cover. Gift inscription... More about Child's Book of Poetry
(Sandbornton, NH): Sandbornton Press, 1835. 48mo. 16pp. Eleven woodcut illustrations of animals, accompanying descriptions of each. The animals presented include a monkey, spaniel, and walrus. Each description provides information on the animal's physical characteristics and behavioral habits. Some, as in the case of the ass, add mentions of the animal's... More about Children's History of Beasts
Concord, NH: Boyd & White, 1839. 16mo. 16pp. Illustrated with numerous woodcuts throughout. The title page notes that this is the fourth number in the seventh series; the previous year, the Riddler was in the sixth series, suggesting that this was an annual. Although many of the riddles were likely... More about The Columbian Riddler, or Entertaining Puzzle Book
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (c. 1810). 64mo. 16pp. Various urban occupations, such as the postman, the wax-worker, and purveyors of fine sprats, strawberries, and potatoes, are depicted through lyric verses and engraved illustrations. Bound in plain wrappers with scant chips, splits at spine of first conjugate leaves, else near fine. More about The Cries of Banbury and London, and Celebrated Stories
New Haven: S. Babcock, 1840. 32mo. 16pp. A moral chapbook with many engraved illustrations throughout. The titular explanations are told from a mother to her daughter. They primarily deal with the origins and uses of various textiles, but by the end of the story they encompass all living things designed... More about The Flock of Sheep; Or, Familiar Explanations of Simple Facts
London: A.K. Newman & Co., (1822). Octavo. (16)ff., + 2ff. pasted to covers. First edition. Frontispiece and fourteen full-page hand-colored wood engravings. The title page calls for "sixteen" engravings, and it appears this oversight was corrected in a subsequent edition with a reset title page. This counting game consisting of... More about The Gaping, Wide-Mouthed, Waddling Frog: A New and Entertaining Game of Questions and Commands
