Oh the things you can find if you just keep your eyes peeled! The inside of this old library book was stamped DISCARD! Which was probably how it found its way into the book bin at our local thrift store. The cover was well worn, but often these are the books that contain the greatest treasures.
One peek inside the well-worn cover reveals a treasure trove of beautiful illustrations by the infamous Alice & Martin Provensen. (You can read a little more about them here!) Let’s take a look!
Hmmm….don’t those leaves look familiar???
Here, lets take a better look at those beautiful drawings:
Aw, that little curley-haired boy reminds me of Wolfie….
Yay for well loved library books!
A Child’s Garden of Verses – by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Alice & Martin Provensen (1951).
Such a classic book! Thanks for the little tour through it.
Aaah! Love the Provensens!!
I had to laugh! I found your blog while I was blog hopping about, and I read about your find. I just received in the mail today, my 1932 edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses” illustrated by Eulalie Banks. The illustrations she made are charming too, although quite a bit different in style. I have begun amassing a treasure trove of vintage books (most are from the 50’s) and I tell my husband I need them because I have started homeschooling our two youngest (of four) children. They like the books, but not as much as I do. Which is quite all right with me, because truth be told, they were really for me anyway!;) Thank you for the lovely post and fun blog!
oh, those little printed names just make me so happy!
I recently picked up a Provensen Giant Golden Book (The Animal Fair) at our library book sale. Sigh, it’s dreamy. Certainly, being discarded from the library doesn’t mean to trash it, just no longer keep it as part of the collection. Lucky us! At our library, the stamp says either “discarded” or “cancelled.” My childhood favorite edition of Child’s Garden of Verse is the Gyo Fujikawa one though. Love his round, adorable kids.
LOVE those books too! Thanks for sharing it! I also have some kids vintage finds to share on my blog such as books, toys, paper dolls and more… for the passionate ones and for those with nostalgia for the 50s-70s. So please feel free to come and visit me at http://rocketlulu.typepad.com