Golden Memories

Did you have Golden Books as a child? They were the beginning of a publishing revolution that made affordable, high quality books available to children so that they could build their very own libraries at home. 

They were sold for only 25 cents when I was a child, but were sturdy enough for little hands.

They were books that were well loved, as you can tell from the worn condition of these books from my collection. 

The Poky Little Puppy was one of the first Golden Books published in 1942, and has remained one of the best selling children's books of all time.

When I was little, I must have gazed at the pictures in my own Golden Books for a long time, because when I look at the books now every detail is familiar from my childhood.

The Saggy Baggy Elephant was illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren, a Swedish-born artist who moved to Cleveland, Ohio and who worked as a chief illustrator for the Walt Disney movie version of Snow White.

A great many well-known children's authors, like Margaret Wise Brown and Ludwig Bemelmans, contributed titles to Golden Books; as did children's book illustrators like Garth Williams and Leonard Weisgard.

For a fascinating history of the little Golden Books, read Golden Legacy; How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became an American Icon Along the Way, by Leonard S. Marcus (New York: Golden Books, 2007).

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

The man Jack made a small noise then, a grunt that contained in it both frustration and also satisfaction. He slipped the knife into its sheath in the inside pocket of his long coat, and he stepped out into the street. There was moonlight, and there were streetlights, but the fog stifled everything, muted light and muffled sound and made the night shadowy and treacherous. He looked down the hill toward the light of the closed shops, then up the street, where the last high houses wound up the hill on their way to the darkness of the old graveyard. 

The man Jack sniffed the air. Then, without hurrying, he began to walk up the hill.

~The Graveyard Book

I've always enjoyed reading Neil Gaiman's dark book Coraline (now a movie) aloud to groups of children and the moment I started his The Graveyard Book I wished for some kids to read it to. It is spooky and scary and a little bit terrifying; and is altogether a delicious page-turner. 

Gaiman won the 2009 Newbery Medal for Children's Books for this marvelous story of a boy who is brought up by the dead souls in a graveyard. 

See trailers for the book, play games, and learn about Gaiman and his other books at Gaiman's website.