Last Sunday I posted a sheaf of eye candy in the form of my childhood collection of Little Golden Books, I hope you all dug on them even half as much as I have for the last 49 years.
This week I'll drop some more Western Publishing deliciousness on you from my collection of Whitman Tell-A-Tale books. Western published under a slew of banners, not just limited to the children's book market, they also published those dell, Gold Key and Whitman comic books so many of us remember from our past, and probably all manner of 4 color printing for all manner of other folks besides themselves. The older I get the less interested I am and more unapologetic I am for my ignorance of the business side of this stuff. The more important part of it all is the art and happiness that came out of it all.
These were intended with the youngest of readers to hold in their tiny hands...measuring only 5.5" x 6.5" approx. in size, they were perfect for tiny hands to hold and read for hours with the pictures inviting you in so the words could become your friends.
"ABC a Tale of a Sale" is the story of a guy selling off his entire zoo full of animals, and using their distinctive tails as a way of keeping inventory...colorful stuff!
I read this one till my eyes turned blue...love the art style and dig the story of a huge family who's grandparents come to visit and the youngest kid does his best to grab their attention. I didn't just re-read this for this description...I didn't have tom it's ingrained in my brain from childhood.
This one I may need a refresher on...but I remember digging the cartoony style!
This was NOT from my toddler years, but rather bought in my teenage years, The mid to late '70's in a town with only 2 television stations made for a desert climate of trying to get ahold of classic cartoon characters to look at...so I used to sneak a few of these in to drink up.
This WAS from my kiddie-hood. Love the painted versions of our favorite ducks.
Check out the color pallette on this bad boy. All those "hot" colors, yet it never gave me the angst that those colors are supposed to represent...somehow they were warm and inviting and really helped me into the world of the writer!
I don't remember the Hoppity Hooper show, though I am a gigantic fan of Jay Ward! My only real exposure to this group of characters is this book. The other day I went ahead and ordered a public domain DVD off of Amazon that has a few of these cartoons on it...I await with bated breath!
I always loved the artwork in this one as well. Disturbing little story here though, it's a bout a hungry lion and every time he meets another animal (who obviously don't want to be dinner) they try and lead him to somebody else he can eat. By the end, they all get loaded up on a boat to be taken to a "civilized" county where they live out their days in a zoo. Probably one which won't be re-printed in 2012.
I don't think I ever heard the legend of Johnny Appleseed from anyone other than this book and the Disney cartoon. Yet it's as ingrained an American legend/folk tale as any I'd heard every day of my life. Powerful stuff, these little Tell-A-Tale books.
Again..being born in 1963, my memory of these great TV cartoon character is a little fuzzy, so this is my strongest memory (until later in life when te source material became available to me) of Magilla and Mr. Peebles. O.G. did not appear :)
This cover makes me calm. Candy and kittens...how centered in your being with happiness can you get?
Another one that beat the cartoon to my brain. Those HB character designs made it verrrrrrrry apparent that these guys were nothing but fun, though!
These next guys I knew...I should have known by the similarities in characterizations between these books and Dell comics, that there was a connection.
Trains were cool then. Trains are cool now.
Argue with any 5 years old boy...I dare you.
Thin Arnold was a pretty regular Jeffy bedtime story read, too. But I got fat anyway.
Another late addition to my collection. Like the Bugs Bunny book above, I've only had this one for a little over 35 years.
Great cover...and even as a toddler I knew Wally Cox' voice. Loved it then, loved it now.
Just argue with any 5 year old. :)
The colors in some of these are just amazing. They set mood, they clarify images...and this from a guy who knows diddly about color. These guys were great!!!
I could read this one to my mom before I was supposedly old enough to read. Had this down by the age of 4...pre-Kindergarten.
Laugh if you will, I'm puttin' that on my resume!
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon.
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