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From Baby Animals, illustrated by Garth Williams, used by permission, copyright 1952 Penguin Random House |
This summer, the River Falls Public
Library Gallery will feature an extensive collection of original illustration
art from one of American publishing’s best-loved and most consequential picture
book lines,
Little Golden Books. Not-so-coincidentally, the exhibition also
falls on the 75
th anniversary of the essential series, which was
published in Racine, WI, until 2001.
From June 10 –
August 12, 2017, the River Falls Public Library Gallery will display sixty
masterpieces of original illustration art by familiar artists and children’s
book illustrators. Each featured work was chosen from a vast Random House archive;
this exhibit will include pieces from such picture-book classics as The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle, Home for a Bunny, The Color
Kittens, I Can Fly, and more. The
exhibit was curated by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated
Literature (NCCIL) in Abilene, Texas.
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From Baby Listens, illustration by Esther Wilkins, used by permission, copyright 1960 Penguin Random House |
Launched
in 1942—the first full year of America’s involvement in the Second World
War—Little Golden Books made high quality illustrated books available at
affordable prices for the first time to millions of young children and their
parents. Among the artists who contributed to the ambitious series were greats
of the European émigré community (including Garth Williams, Feodor Rojankovsky,
and Tibor Gergely) who had gathered in New York as the European situation
worsened; alumni of the Walt Disney Studios (including Gustaf Tenggren, Martin
Provensen, J. P. Miller, and Mary Blair); and such American originals as Leonard
Weisgard, Eloise Wilkin, Elizabeth Orton Jones, Richard Scarry, and Hilary
Knight.
Golden Books and Random House Children’s Books are
also celebrating the anniversary with the re-release of the complete
retrospective history of the beloved line:
GOLDEN LEGACY: How Golden Books
Won Children’s Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became an American Icon
Along the Way by Leonard S. Marcus. Golden
Legacy is the untold history of the company, its line of books, and the
groundbreaking writers and artists who created them.
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From Doctor Dan the Bandage Man, illustration by Corinne Malvern, used by permission, copyright 1950 Penguin Random House |
The
Golden Books exhibit at the River Falls Public Library Gallery is open to the
public and always free-of-charge beginning June 10. The gallery, located in the
lower level of the River Falls Public Library at 140 Union Street in River
Falls, Wisconsin, is open Monday through Thursday from 10AM to 8PM, Fridays
from 10AM to 6PM, and Saturdays from 10AM to 4PM.
Through
this exhibition, the River Falls Public Library Gallery strives to educate
children and families about illustrated literature and celebrate the best
original art published in children’s books. Join gallery staff and community
partners for a series of related events for young children to seniors
throughout the summer. For more information on the River Falls Public Library
Gallery and free summer events, stop in to the River Falls Public Library, visit
http://www.riverfallspubliclibrary.org/in-the-gallery
or call 715-426-3496.
Labels: children's books, exhibits, history of children's books, illustrations, illustrators