A Little Gold for Everyone
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
In 1942 the American children’s book industry was forever changed. It didn’t seem an especially auspicious moment. The world was at war; at home, coffee and gasoline were being rationed, paper shortages loomed. Few Americans had children’s books on their minds, never mind the extra $2 to $3 in their wallets to spend on what amounted to luxury items. But George Duplaix, president of the American Artists and Writers Guild, felt it important that literature be available to young readers, and so developed a line of 12 durable, high-quality picture books that, at 25 cents each, would be affordable for most families.
The line was an astounding success. Sold in pharmacies and grocery chains as well as bookstores, the sturdy, colorful books with the gold-papered spines flew off the shelves. Within five months Simon & Schuster had printed 1.5 million Little Golden Books; by 1945 most of the original 12 titles were in their seventh printing. Rare was the household unfamiliar with the misadventures of “The Poky Little Puppy” or “The Little Red Hen.”
Little Golden Books not only generated instant classics, but over the years has sampled generously from children’s popular culture, featuring Lassie, Raggedy Ann, Captain Kangaroo, Pokemon, Mister Rogers, and even Barbie, to name a few. Numerous writers and illustrators have contributed to the series, such as Margaret Wise Brown and Richard Scarry, who began his career with Little Golden Books. In time the line not only grew in popularity – in 2002 “The Poky Little Puppy” was listed by Publisher’s Weekly as the bestselling children’s book ever – but became an icon in its own right.
Today Little Golden Books sell for $2.99 each – far more than a quarter, but still cheap. This fall, in celebration of 62 years of publication, Random House is reissuing the best of the backlist and two collector’s treasuries, and hosting, in conjunction with the New York Public Library, an exhibit of original Golden Books artwork. There among the stacks visitors can peruse the first drafts of an important moment in publishing history as well as, perhaps, their own.
