The Books of My Childhood

I just spent 45 minutes writing a post about these books, and attempting to post photos and in one keystroke - I lost it all! I don't know if I have the patience to do it all again, but I will try. My Book House, the set I have was published in 1937, edited by Olive Beaupre Miller, was one of the best. It is a set of 12 volumes, each lavishly illustrated by various artists. The Owl and the Pussy-Cat was a favorite; I especially liked this drawing, which sparked my imagination even before I could read the poem. Here is a link telling about the books, the history of them and something about the woman who collected and edited the books: http://www.valerieslivingbooks.com/mbh.htm
The third drawing down came from "The Brimful Book, A Collection of Mother Goose Rhymes and Animal Stories". This one was also lavishly illustrated, even more so than the first book. "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" was a story I liked a lot. As an only child, I longed for some siblings and built-in playmates. I really wanted to live in that shoe with all those children! Those who came from big families may laugh at that and envy my position as favored only child, but I didn't see it that way. I can't show the cover of that book because it was so torn up that I had to cover it with adhesive paper and make numerous page repairs with cellophane tape. I just searched for this book and found it on ebay. Here is the link, and if you scroll up/down the page, you can see several illustrations from it, as well as the original cover:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1939-THE-BRIMFUL-BOOK-BY-PLATT-MUNK_W0QQitemZ220011423716QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

The last one is the inside cover from "A Child's Book of Bible Stories", illustrated by Masha (she used one name). Published by Random House in 1944, I was fascinated by the Egyptian-style art. I used to draw frequently as a child, and when I couldn't draw something well - I traced it. I spent hours tracing the illustrations in this book. I tried to google this one, and Masha, but most of the entries are for subjects not pertaining to children at all.....LOL.

I still have these books (as you know, I cannot seem to throw much of anything away). I do hope that my children and their children will keep and treasure them as much as I always have.