Little Golden Books are popular, inexpensive and quite commonplace. A visit to this exhibit, featuring original works of art, shows that the illustrators were talented artists as well. It is a treat for Golden Books fans to see the well-loved illustrations in their original form – watercolor, gouache and pen and ink.
See Real Little Golden Book Art
Golden Legacy includes art spanning the series history, including such classics as The Poky Little Puppy, Elves and Fairies, The Color Kittens and The Little Red Hen. Western Publishing hired illustrators with a wide range of styles as this exhibit clearly shows. There is the nostalgic style of illustrators like Elizabeth Orton Jones, the magical beauty of Garth Williams, and the distinct figures of Alice and Martin Provensen. Viewers can also see some charming paintings by Eloise Wilkins, as well as works by Richard Scarry, Tibor Gergely, Gustaf Tenggren and Feodor Rojanovsky. The original art is accompanied by short biographies of the artists.
Twenty Five Cent Price Tag Made Golden Books Popular
Little Golden Books heralded from just north of where the current display is located, in Racine, Wisconsin. The books were the result of collaboration between Simon & Shuster, Inc., the Artists and Writers Guild and Western Printing and Lithographing. The first 12 Golden Book titles were published in 1942. From the beginning, they were designed to be high quality, durable books, with an inexpensive 25 cent price tag. The inexpensive price and durability made the books very popular with parents.
Kids Can Draw on Walls Just Like the Color Kittens
The Lake County Museum exhibit includes an interactive area where children can draw on walls like the kittens in Color Kittens. They can slide down the Happy Man’s Dump Truck, crawl through a plush version of Farmer McPhee's lemon orchard to find The Red Lemon and play a "Toss the Red Lemon" game, and make a snake slither and a cricket hop away from The Poky Little Puppy. Children can also use their imaginations to create their own Golden Book on the museum’s storybook wall.
Discounts Available for Lake County Discovery Museum Admission
The Lake County Discovery Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. The museum is located, just west of Fairfield Road and Rte. 176 in Wauconda. Admission is $6 for adults, $2.50 for children 4-17, and children under 3 are free. On Tuesdays, admission is $3 for adults and children under 17 are free. There is a coupon available for $1 off admission.
View Alphonse Mucha Art and Vintage Postcards Too
The Lake County Discovery Museum offers a wonderful diversion that not only includes the Golden Legacy exhibit, but also an exhibit of folk art cathedrals constructed by Charles Warner and the permanent Curt Teich postcard display, which also includes an exhibit of Alphonse Mucha’s Art Nouveau advertising illustrations.
Claudia M. Lenart - Claudia has been freelancing as an editor and writer for more than 10 years. Prior to going freelance, she worked as an editor in ...
