Her illustrations are so real, so precious, so perfect for children. The girls always choose her books first. We especially love Baby Dear… we don’t have an original of it but it is in a fabulous Golden Book Collection of Eloise Wilkin stories, if you don’t have it, add it to your list. I think ours even came from TJ Maxx.
I’m just now entering the world of trucks, trains, and other boy toys. So when I came across these, how could I pass them up!
Because Rover is bound to not only pursue knowledge but also be a destroyer of it I found a Golden STURDY book that he can actually be left alone with.
And it just so happens to have the first animals that he can identify {with a precious fat little finger}. Birds…
and dogs…
There was one book we knew we couldn’t leave without. What Do You Say? We got a good chuckle out of it… we couldn’t get past the pictures to see if the words were of any value. We were sold on the pictures alone.
Tommy and his mom, Mrs. Hill, pick up Cindy and take her to the carnival… but you probably already know that from the pictures. Anyone want to guess what year it was written? No “google” cheating.
Thanks, Mom for treating us to these wonderful books! They’ve already provided hours of reading and listening enjoyment for all!
ps- The trays in the last post came from Michael’s {or Hobby Lobby} and I used paint pens to write their names on them.
Ashley
August 4, 2009 at 1:18 pmAm I really the first to comment? Say it ain't so?! I was just going to comment to say that you guys are blessed w/ some good thrift stores down that way – ours are just bobo. The other day, I went in one I frequent, and they had this TERRIBLE table from the 70's for $100!!!! What?! I mean, maybe $10. What are they thinking?! Anyway…I will always visit the stores, but I might have to move cities to find good buys! And…I hope the Marla-post is coming soon! Can't wait!
Mary Frances
August 4, 2009 at 1:21 pmMy two little ankle biters loved Little Golden Books and The Berenstain Bears…going to the library was always a big deal…for me as a little girl, and for my children as well…summer reading book club certificates were always rewarded with a trip to Braum's ice cream! Both of my kids learned how to behave in fancy stores by going thrifting with me, and my 23 year old daughter has a Pez candy dispenser collection she started as a little girl…my son collected old six shooters! The "bug" rubs off, Darby…it did on you and Erika!!
Mary Frances
fromallstitchedup
August 4, 2009 at 1:24 pmWhat wonderful memories ! I just found your blog and love it. Your photo's are great. I loved the golden books too. I'm saving my daughter's for grandchildren someday. Thanks for the fun.
Kathy
August 4, 2009 at 1:40 pmWe loved Little Golden Books, too. There is a truck book that I believe we went through 3 copies of! I can't help noticing the absence of little hot wheels cars. Your little Rover would love them. Get a cute little bucket to contain them and pull it out when he needs a change of activity. There are little parts, so he will need supervision for now. But, as the mom of three boys, I just know he will love them! I'm sure of it!
Elaine
August 4, 2009 at 1:46 pmWe have a couple good one's here in Bham, but I like to go to ones when we travel too.
Those pictures from the book look like my mom's in her albums as a child. I'm guessing 1964.
The Stivender Family
August 4, 2009 at 1:49 pmi randomly found your blog and love it–your sister's too! we help mommy was one of my favorites growing up. my mom still has the copy. it is put safely away for now b/c i have a 22-month old rover myself!!
Kat
August 4, 2009 at 2:00 pmBaby Dear is one of our favorites too!
Kat
August 4, 2009 at 2:01 pmThe pictures in that book are hysterical!
Laura
August 4, 2009 at 2:07 pmI named my favorite doll Baby Dear, after the book…25 years later her sweet head and limbs are falling off, and she has a pink heart patch sewn where I pushed her giggle box so many times that I made a hole. I had to confiscate Baby Dear from my niece once when she was three, because she kept waving Baby Dear's poor rugged body around in the air and calling her Wanda!
Jennifer
August 4, 2009 at 2:21 pmBaby Dear rarely left my side as a child and is a favorite around here, too…the EW Golden Books are definitely the best!
Love your carnival book…I'm guessing 1963?
Angel
August 4, 2009 at 2:38 pmI adore the Golden Books too. so glad all of mine were saved in the attic for me, now my kids love them too. If you don't have it already, you need to find "The monster at the end of this book" with grover. i think there's an Elmo version now too. Your kids will love it! And it's super fun to hear them read it out loud to each other.
MyLittleHappyPlace
August 4, 2009 at 2:43 pmAwww! Does JM pronounce "bird" like my little one…"Boid" (Like Sylvester the cat!)
annek
August 4, 2009 at 2:47 pmI like the ones illustrated by Garth Williams too! I'm guessing the book is from 1962? or so,
jen quinn
August 4, 2009 at 2:54 pmI almost fell off my chair when I srolled down to the pics of the puppy book. It was my absolute favorite book from childhood. If you ever come across another copy, please snatch it up for me.
christy
August 4, 2009 at 3:38 pmLove the old Little Golden Books! We have lots from thrifting, but also some my MIL saved from my DH as a kid. It has been great sharing them with my son. I totally LOVE thrifting! My son (6) is old enough to go with now, although a lot of the time he opts out. 🙂 Although he does love the "surprises" I bring him home, new books! 🙂
Amanda @ Serenity Now
August 4, 2009 at 4:35 pmI have to thrift with my two little ones, and I have to be fast, haha. We always hit the book racks first. I look for Little Golden books too. I had that Beagle book that Rover was looking at. 🙂 My 3 year old is really into the Berenstain Bears…I think we must have just about all of them (all bought at yard sales or thrift stores). We also look for Arthur books. 🙂
Sarah
August 4, 2009 at 4:39 pmI am SO jealous of your Golden Book collection…I buy them too…such great childhood memories!
lindsay
August 4, 2009 at 4:55 pmGolden books are #1. We still have mine and "We help Mommy" is worn pretty thin! ;o)
havanadreamin103
August 4, 2009 at 5:06 pmI'll be heading to Michael's soon………thanks for telling us where you got those CUTE trays!!!!
As for Golden Books………..I think my favorite was "The Shy Little Kitten" 🙂
meredith
August 4, 2009 at 5:25 pmI LOVED me some Golden Books growing up! I had the Kindergarten book and We Help Mommy! Precious! You should get John Martin the book Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. It's great!
~Meredith
The 5 Bickies
August 4, 2009 at 5:32 pmWe love Golden Books and especially those by Eloise Wilkin. She is a favorite for sure!
Thanks for such a sweet post.
The McRee's
August 4, 2009 at 5:34 pmWe love kindergarten was my most fav book when i was little. wish i could find a copy now!
marcia
August 4, 2009 at 5:37 pmEloise Wilkin!!! So glad another generation appreciates this woman's dear illustrations. I have most of her books but will still buy one I don't have if I see it and my kids are 24,20 and 14!
Love your blog.
marcia in TX
Carly Winborne
August 4, 2009 at 6:18 pmI think this is my favorite post you've done in a while (right up there with those unbelievable fudge pies, which I made TODAY for a new mommy friend, but I digress…). We Help Mommy and We Help Daddy were two of my favorite books as a child and now they're always at the top of the list for my little girl. Do you have Little Mommy and Nurse Nancy? Those are great ones, too. In fact, I just read Nurse Nancy before bedtime. I've never seen the others you list here, but I'm officially on the hunt now. Thanks so much for sharing.
BTW, everytime I cut hair around here, my little girl talks about "that blonde hair girl named Morgan". I showed her your post a while back of you cutting Morgan's hair when I was trying to convince her to let me cut hers. (Does that make sense?) Anyway, I think she thinks they are friends. Nothing like your four-year-old with blog friends, right? 🙂
Amanda
August 4, 2009 at 6:40 pmI love Little Golden Books…they remind me of my childhood! My favorite was The Poky Little Puppy.
Megan Shirley
August 4, 2009 at 7:17 pmWe Help Mommy is my favorite. It was when I was 3 and it still is today when I read the same copy to my kids. My daughter talks about Martha and Bobby like she knows them. I love that. Some of my first memories are of the illustrations in that book!
Rachel
August 4, 2009 at 7:41 pmI think little Rover interacting in the photos tells the cutest story of it's own!
Anonymous
August 4, 2009 at 7:41 pmOooh! Two of my favourite Golden Books where featured in your post! "My Little Dinosaur" brings back such happy memories! THANK YOU!
Jenny, Melbourne, AUS
erika
August 4, 2009 at 7:49 pmi love it all
save those for my baby!
i'm too tired to write more, but i love you!!
Tonja
August 4, 2009 at 8:08 pmI have ALL my boys books from when they were young. I always said that one day, I would have a library. And, when we built…that was one thing I insisted on! One day, you'll have to bring the kids over to check some books out of Mrs. Owens library! There's even a real zebra skin on the floor that Pop shot in Africa!
andi
August 4, 2009 at 9:09 pmI love those books. Don't they bring back such great memories. I am so glad to see you nurturing reading for your children. Your excitement about their literature DEFINITELY encourages a love for reading! Way to go Darby!!! Miss seeing you-let's catch up soon.
Liz
August 5, 2009 at 12:25 amWow-what a blast from the past! "we Help Mommy" was my favourite (Australia circa 1980!!!). Love that you mentioned them. Also loving Rover's little chubby finger…soooo sweet!
Caroline
August 5, 2009 at 3:03 amI love Golden Books and one of Julianna's favorite's is Baby Dear. We also love Little Mommy. I have some that were my Mom's with her name written in the front, and some of mine that my grandmother wrote little notes in the front of. So special. It's funny to see how the price has gone up too. Some of our say $0.59if you buy them new now they are $3.99!
Laura
August 5, 2009 at 4:23 amDarby ~ I love this post. It brings back many memories. All of my Little Golden Books are still at Mom & Dad's. I'll have to snag them when we have a little one of our own. One of my absolute faves was always We Help Mommy. I also have the Prayers for Children book. Glad these classics are still being enjoyed!
The Tidy Brown Wren
August 5, 2009 at 5:17 amI'm so thankful that my grandma saved all of my golden books. They are favorites of my children and now, my grandchildren.
When my children were little they called the thrift store "the stinky store". But, I must have trained them well because now they all bring home their own treasures from the "stinky store" with pride.
Jboo
August 5, 2009 at 6:15 amThose books are adorable! I remember having that Prayer book. Love the old fashioned look.
Janet
Rachel
August 5, 2009 at 7:40 amGolden books!! I'm still trying to find where all of mine went! I definitely had the I Can Dress Myself that I see hiding in one of those stacks!! I even loved GB so much that I would give them as birthday presents; even until the 4th grade (oh, those poor, embarassed kids). HA! That's what living in a small, isolated town can do to you – I was WAYYYYYYYYYY behind the times!! I love the litte Rover footsie peeking into the pics!
aferna
August 5, 2009 at 7:51 amOh, how I love Little Golden Books. I have some that cost a quarter originally. If my kids got fussy in the shopping buggy, I would pick up a new book for them to calm them down. That sounds like rewarding bad behavior, but really, it was for the other shoppers. Ha. I think your carnival book would be a 1967-68, because of the Chevelle in the picture. Chevrolet dealer's wife has to know a little sumpin' about them. Little Boy with a Drum was my son's favorite Little Golden Book. The books are in the den in the basement in a big rubbermaid box. I treasure them all.
My children are 34, 32, and 27 and we talk about Darby and what you are doing, just as if you were a relative. Thanks so much for taking the time to blog. We love you!
Christina
August 5, 2009 at 8:48 amYou and I are cut from the same cloth I just bought Wilkin's "My First Golden Book About God" yesterday at a thrift store for my 22 month old (along with a beautiful rainbow crocheted blanket for $3!) to add to our collection. She loves all of my old Golden books and I've added to these as much as possible from thrift stores. It makes me sad about our society that these beautiful illustrated, well written books used to be books you could grab at the supermarket; now all you can buy at the supermarket are some cross-marketed junky books with TV show characters and no plot.
Anonymous
August 5, 2009 at 10:10 amDarby, surely you and Erika must have had the Little Golden Book entitled The Twins about Sue and Ann! That was my twin and my favorite when we were kids.
Ellen
August 5, 2009 at 10:26 amMy mom collected the Eliose Wilkin Goden Books, too – I grew up with the ones that you pictured.
Erika @ BluLabel Bungalow
August 5, 2009 at 1:43 pmWhat adorable little books. How to you keep the little ones from tearing the pages out? I hate to have to put them out of their reach, but it's the only way I can keep them intact.
Missy @ It's Almost Naptime
August 5, 2009 at 5:43 pmOh, what a wave of memories you just brought back…
Erica
August 6, 2009 at 8:31 amOh my goodness…these books bring back so many memories! Especially "I am a puppy". That was always my brothers book of choice each night. I am a puppy…My name is Bruno. So cute!
Jess
August 6, 2009 at 10:03 amaddicted to buying Golden Books too….Eloise is my absolute favorite…oh those angelic faces!!! i think i have over 500! i evenhave my mother-in-law buying them up at tag sales!
Anonymous
August 6, 2009 at 10:18 amLove that last book!! priceless!!
The Moates Family
August 6, 2009 at 10:45 amI found your blog through a friend of a friend's blog. Yes, I'm a stalker- hope you don't mind. 🙂 Just wanted to say thank you for helping me figure out my plans for this weekend. I'm a "junk store" (as I lovingly call thrift and antique stores) nut but haven't been in a while. Now I'm all pumped up to do some browsing and shopping this weekend.
The Howe Family
August 6, 2009 at 5:54 pmI LOVE Eloise Wilkin…the "real" ones and the collection one from TJ Maxx! 🙂 I found an Eloise Wilkin coloring book a couple of years ago at a Christian bookstore – so precious!
The Birds Nest
August 14, 2009 at 7:50 amMy favorite book in the whole wide world when I was little was We Help Mommy!!! I liked We Help Daddy too, but not as much as We Help Mommy. I still have it, and it holds a very special place in my heart.
the quinn location
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