Tuesday 17 July 2012

From Alice in Wonderland to Winnie the Pooh

A recent book buying trip turned-up lots and lots of lovely books. I thought you might like a quick rundown on some of them ...





Left to right; Lovely vintage copy of Alice's adventures in wonderland paperback published by Puffin Books, 1949. Alice through the looking glass hardcover published by Golden Pleasure Book, 1964. Alice's adventures in Wonderland Pop-Up book published by Macmillan, 1980. James Roger Diaz did the paper engineering and his pop-up (or should that be pop- down) showing Alice descending into the Rabbit-hole attached to a piece of thread is wonderful. Alice's adventures in Wonderland with superb illustrations by Helen Oxenbury published by Walker Books in 2002. Winner of both the Kate Greenaway medal and the Kurt Machler award. 




A child's garden of verses hardcover published by Harrap, 1953 with very pretty illustrations by Hilda Austin and Leonard Cotterhill. Badger's Bend the animal hotel published by Odhams Press, 1964.The idea of running an animal hotel come to young Tim after he moved to the country. At first, everything had been strange, and no wonder for Tim was a city boy; even the silence of the woods was alarming until, one day, Betsy, the girl-next-door, came into his life. Tim began to assist the local vet, and slowly but surely a love for animals was born. Dusty published by Thomas Nelson, 1960, early reader. Engines, Aunties and others by Rowland Emett. Published in 1943.  Steam trains. Not your hum-drum 8.15's but the more snuffling sort which go investigating branch lines and subside steamily at places called Snailbeach, Fumbling and Owlpen-for-Cheesewring. These are the Engines that almost always go back-to-front and never give one puff if two will do!

The Fairy book published in 1922. Mabel Lucie Attwell and Honor Appleton provided the six colour plates and numerous black-and-white drawings for this gorgeous book. The illustrations accompany favourite fairy tales including Cinderella, the three bears, Henny-Penny, Jack and the beanstalk, Tom Thumb, the little old woman and the snow Queen. All the colour plates are beautiful but my favourite is Little Red Riding Hood and the Boo Boos (elves) visiting ‘grandma’.





Flower fairies of the spring hardback with dust jacket published by Blackie in 1953. Once Upon a time a Janet and John book c1966. Tai-Lou talking is a wonderful little book published in 1952, illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone Tai-Lu the Siamese cat visits a circus, saves a little boy from drowning, captures a gang of thieves and spends a day at Brighton! The Littlest one by Marion St John Adcock Webb is another sweet little book. A collection of poems, including through the prickle hedge, the Nugly little man, the hole in the curtain, the creaking stair, the magic door and the squeaky shoes, four colour plates by Margaret Tarrant.

From; the littlest one by Marion St John Adcock webb
There's Aunt Matilda's child'en, and they're playin' hide-an'-seek,
but they sez I mustn't join them 'cos I've got on shoes that squeak.
An' when you're playin' hidin' you must never make a sound,
or they'll creep along an' hear you, and you're certain to be found.
They said, "put on you slippers, come along, an' hide away."
But I said I'd keep my shoes on or I wouldn't go an' play.
So they've gone to play without me. They can jus' do what they choose.
'Cos I had them new this morning I shall sit an' wear my shoes!



Princess Pony Book No. 2 published in 963. Interesting collection of pony stories including - five for a ride by Bunty Martin, the maltase cat by Rudyard Kipling, jumping around the world by Pat Smythe, the phantom horseman by Verdi and a spot of mischief by Siegfried Sassoon. Red Ribbons and Mr Anders by Elizabeth Wilton, 1970.  A small town in Denmark is the setting for this story; a town famous for the storks which come each spring to their rooftop nests. This year, however, the storks have not returned - and the townsfolk link their non-appearance with the fact that there is an extremely large number of stray cats in the town.Winnie-The-Pooh a reprint from 1973. I just had to include this so that I could share the picture of Christopher Robin dragging Winnie the Pooh down the stairs. I've always loved the Ernest Shepard  illustrations, and this is one of my favourites.

This quick run down ended up being rather long - I hope I've not outstayed my welcome. Thanks so much for visiting.

Update July 2016
: March House books closed on my retirement in 2015, but I do still blog here at March of Time Books and always appreciate your visit. 

39 comments:

  1. You could never overstay your welcome Barbara! This is a wonderful collection. Like you I also love the Pooh illustrations. I'd enjoy looking at all of these books but I think my favourite is the fairy book. I had a closer look at that one and the cover is so pretty - proper fairies!

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  2. Love looking at all the books you find. The illustration are wonderful!

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  3. Wow! I really love the illustrations! I get the feeling of nostalgia just by looking at them! Btw, came here from Nikki's blog :)

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  4. Darlene Foster18 July 2012 at 03:02

    A great collection. You must have so much fun shopping for these books.

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  5. barbaraannefisher18 July 2012 at 08:37

    Hi Sharon, thanks for taking the time to look at the fairy book. It’s very pretty and quite scare. I was delighted to find it. Have you seen the prices of the original Winnie the Pooh illustrations? We viewed some at an auction a while back. They fetched thousands of pounds, so no originals for me!

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  6. barbaraannefisher18 July 2012 at 08:47

    Me too! In fact, I love looking at them so much I find it hard to part with some of them. I always tell Terry I’m buying books for ‘stock’ but one or two (three or four) usually find themselves in my collections. I just don’t know how that happens!

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  7. barbaraannefisher18 July 2012 at 08:51

    Hi Charles, thanks for calling in. I've just visited your fantastic blog via Nikki - will be back to comment later.

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  8. barbaraannefisher18 July 2012 at 09:17

    Hi Darlene, I can’t tell you how much fun it is! I love auctions, book fairs, car boot sales, thrift shops – anywhere, in fact, that sells books.

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  9. Wow! You got some amazing books on this shopping trip. I love the Alice in Wonderland copies- especially the Puffin vintage and the Oxenbury. The Fairy Book (1922) sounds wonderful- I love the drawings that are shown. You always find the most beautiful books and it must be such a blast looking for these finds.

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  10. thebookoutline18 July 2012 at 17:47

    I loved your blog. Following you :)
    ... And thank you for visiting http://thebookoutline.blogspot.com !

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  11. barbaraannefisher18 July 2012 at 18:23

    It is a lot of fun, and a lot of work, but I love what I do – so no complaints.

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  12. barbaraannefisher18 July 2012 at 18:26

    Thanks for calling in and following. I'm just going over to your blog now!

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  13. I've got the soon to be published copy of Alice in Wonderland here to be reviewed. Can you believe I've never read the story before (that I can remember - although I do know the gist of the story).

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  14. barbaraannefisher18 July 2012 at 22:41

    Hi Nikki-ann Alice, is my all-time favourite story, so I’m already looking forward to reading your review.

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  15. The Alice in Wonderland books all look good to me. I always enjoyed pop up books as a kid- so that one sounds intriguing. Of course, I love all things with fairies- so those books are right up my alley. So beautiful!

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  16. These editions are so beautiful, thank you for sharing them with us! I like the look of Red Ribbons and Mr Anders, and Dusty, in particular.
    Lindsay

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  17. I'm afraid I have to admire them lovingly from afar also!

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  18. The Desert Rocks20 July 2012 at 00:20

    Squeaky shoes, fairies and beautiful art. Thanks for going rather long and I'm so glad I stopped by to visit! Wish I could linger and dream for a very long time.

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  19. barbaraannefisher20 July 2012 at 11:11

    Hi Jess, I am very tempted to start collection pop-up books. The problem is there are just so many lovely ones. Every time one comes into stock I long to keep it. Same with Alice and fairies – there really is no hope for me!

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  20. What a great selection of books!

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  21. What a great selection of books!

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  22. barbaraannefisher20 July 2012 at 22:10

    Hello Lindsay, so pleased you like them. Thanks for taking the time to call in and leave a comment. Barbara.

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  23. barbaraannefisher20 July 2012 at 22:14

    Thank you Steve, glad you enjoyed the selection. Thanks for calling in.

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  24. barbaraannefisher20 July 2012 at 22:17

    Hello Eve, you are welcome to linger and dream for as long as you like. Thanks for the lovely comment.

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  25. Book buying trips are the best sort of trip, Barbara. I'm so happy for you to have returned with so many delicious ones. The Alice's Adventures in Wonderland copies (especially the pop-up or pop-down) would be really popular! And I've always got a special thing for steam engines. I laughed when I read the lines about the child not being able to join the hide-and-seek game because his/her shoes do squeak!

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  26. barbaraannefisher24 July 2012 at 21:32

    Hello Claudine, I don’t enjoy shopping for clothes or shoes, but I love the poem! Book shopping, on the other hand, is one of my favourite pastimes.

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  27. Such a lovely post and so many delicious books!

    I'm jealous.

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  28. barbaraannefisher25 July 2012 at 21:27

    I’m green with envy every time I visit your lovely blog so it’s only fair you should feel like it occasionally! I would love to spend a week (make that a month) in your house just gazing at all your books.

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  29. What a find! All of them are books that are great reminders of the past in children's lit. How fun. I can imagine how excited you get when you find these.

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  30. Oh wow! What a fabulous blog. It takes me back to my childhood. I started with Beatrix Potter, Winnie the Pooh and progressed on to Enid blyton. How I loved the Famous Five and Secret Seven!

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  31. barbaraannefisher27 July 2012 at 18:54

    hi DonnaDM, thanks for calling in. Buying and selling books always excites me. I love the thrill of finding just the right book for the right person – and sometimes that person is me!

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  32. barbaraannefisher27 July 2012 at 19:05

    Thank you Jane you have a fabulous blog too. It’s amazing how many people remember the famous five and the secret seven and of course Winnie the Pooh. I missed out on Beatrix Potter when I was a child, but I’ve made up for it since!

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  33. I LOVE Alice in Wonderland! I will have to search around and see if I can find those editions!
    Thanx so much for posting them!
    Have a good one!

    Rebekah Rose

    www.VampiresWerewolvesZombies.blogspot.com
    https://twitter.com/VampWereZombie

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  34. barbaraannefisher3 August 2012 at 09:17

    Hi Becky, thanks for calling in and leaving a comment. It's n to meet another Alice in Wonderland fan! I’ve just followed you on Twitter, looking forward to your Tweets.

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  35. I love collecting books, and I'm always looking for great books for my daughter. I love the pictures on your site. Thank you for welocoming to book blogs. I will definitely start following you.

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  36. barbaraannefisher5 August 2012 at 07:49

    Hello Penny, thanks for calling in. I'm glad you enjoyed looking at the blog. Barbara

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  37. I love vintage childrens books, they all contain such lovely illustrations. Takes me back in time!

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  38. barbaraannefisher25 August 2012 at 15:58

    Hi, going back it time is the attraction for me too, so many lovely memories to explore! Thanks for calling in and leaving a comment.

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara xx