Alice Provensen began illustrating books with her husband Martin in the mid 1940’s and their style is one of my absolute favorites! I found this little blurby on them that I thought was pretty cool:

The Provensens had remarkably similar experiences before they met. Both of them were born in Chicago, Illinois, and their families moved to California when they were twelve years of age. In California, they graduated from high school and college. Martin worked for the Disney Studio, in the Story Department, from 1937 to 1941. Alice worked with the artists who drew for the Walter Lantz Studio, the creators of Woody Woodpecker. Both studios were in Hollywood. They didn’t meet until 1943, when Martin, who was now in the Navy, was assigned to the Walter Lantz Studio to help create instructional films for the military. Eventually the couple moved to New York City, where friend and artist Gustaf Tenggren helped them get their first picture book illustration assignment. That first book was The Fireside Book of Folk Songs. They bought a farm in upstate New York, and their book A Year at Maple Hill Farm became an instant classic. They illustrated several Golden Books, among them The Color Kittens and Animal Farm.  — The Children’s Literature Network

What a neat couple huh! This book has such amazing illustrations. I think you’ll love Alice and Martin as much as I do!

This week I have an awesome little book to share with you called Beware of the Dog! Written in 1968 by Christine Woyke and illustrated by Stina Nagel, it’s a super cute story about a little girl who is afraid of her neighbor’s dog that she can’t see but can hear (on the other side of the fence). Don’t worry, it has a happy ending!

As usual, I am especially loving the clothes the kidlets are wearing. Some hip little kiddos!

This book has such fun little pictures…and the story is pretty cute too. Both the tale and the drawings are by Adelaide Hall and the year was 1965 (which is why the Giant is sportin’ them thar mod pilgrim cuffs!).

These little strawberry drinkies in the picnic scene are pretty amazing! And the ice cream cones….

I just love the way the water is so geometric….all those little triangles!

So sweet! Tomorrow is Friday….hope you have a weekend of giant-sized fun!

Miss Jenny is one of my super tippy top favorite friends. We’ve known each other over ten years now (WOW!) and have been a big part of each other’s lives even though we both live across the country. She and I tend to share the same brain when it comes to most things, so it should come as no surprise that she is just as obsessed with vintage children’s books as I am!

Hello Modern Kiddo friends!

Jenny here, from Frecklewonder to share a little vintage book love while Miss Alix and family enjoy some sun + surf in beautiful Hawaii!

Like Alix, I am a huge fan and avid collector of vintage children’s books. The illustrations are tough to beat. My favorites come from the 1950s and 60s, and I never hit a thrift store without spending at least a few minutes digging through the book bin.

Today I am sharing one of my recent scores. A super sweet 1951 copy of Three Little Puppies. It’s a Rand McNally Elf Book, written by Ruth Dixon, with photographs by Dale and Sally Rooks. Let’s have a look, shall we?

What I love so much about this particular book—other than its obvious sweetness—is the use of REAL PUPPIES! Well known photographer of the time, Dale Rooks (with the help of Sally Rooks) achieved these fabulous images by using real life pups!

From the vivid colors, it almost looks as though an artist painted on top of the photographs but the book doesn’t mention anything about this process.

Wait til you see these photos….

A puppy in a boot!

Puppies on a tiny roller coaster!

Puppies holding tiny cameras!

The story is: the puppies set off on an adventure to find their Mama a nice, big juicy bone for her birthday. Along the way, they find themselves at the State Fair. They meet all sorts of dogs at the fair: hound dogs taking tickets, clown dogs beating drums, various dogs in line for a race, puppies eating ice cream cones, you name it. They compete in all sorts of races in the hopes of winning that bone for their Mama’s birthday, and in the end they do just that A big bone is loaded into the red wagon and brought home to their home on Echo Hill.

Thanks so much to Miss Alix for letting me pop in and share! And happy book thrifting + reading to all!
xo Jenny

Thank you so much Jenny! This book is outta control awesome. I love how the intro assures us that the shots were achieved with “unlimited patience and extreme gentle care”. Whew! The little black and white pup with his suspender pants is the funniest/cutest to me. Be sure to stop by Jenny’s terrific blog, Frecklewonder. And don’t forget to pop by her shops, Kid Wonder and Frecklewonder.