When I was a kid, there were very few books in my house: a few odd storybooks, a 1920s history of Ohio (did you know Warren G Harding was the greatest President the US ever had?), some odd volumes of an outdated encyclopedia, and several volumes like this:
I just got this off eBay, but I have several others I've gathered over the last few years. I don't have the copies from my childhood; the house burned down in 1989. This one is in lovely shape, and hadn't been read (pristine binding, some of the pages still crispy on the edges). Nice score for me!
Why this particular volume, other than opportunity? Gee whiz, I don't know. Bunnies, perhaps?
The table of contents always had the same graphics, and these pics are burned into my memory so deeply that I'm always a little "...wow..." when I see them again. Lookit that stereotypical pirate!
Oh, hey, now I remember why I wanted this particular volume of the series.
Just to show you how gorgeous and well-done these books were (and how my family ended up with them is a mystery), check out who illustrated "The Magic Porridge Pot." Yeah. That guy.
I think I have more volumes now than I did when I was a kid, and it just now occurred to me that I know very little about them, other than that they're copyrighted 1959 (older than me, but not by much). So I shall investigate. Eee, an excuse to do research! :D
I am pretty sure I had one of those floating around when I was little. Not sure where it came from, library book sale or something. *shrug* But the cover looks *very* familiar.
ReplyDeleteIt is nifty!
I found a couple when we wee sorting through the kids' books, so your memory is probably correct. Those are kid-loved, and thus in tatters! :D
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