Children’s Books from the 1930s

My parents were born in the early 1930s; that prompted a little project to browse books written for children during that decade when I found the Library of Congress contributions from the Albert Whitman & Co. in Chicago. 43 books are included as this week’s eBook(s) of the week. They are all available from Internet Archive.

There are so many topics: make believe, holidays, history, other places and people, things to do, and pets. The illustrations reflect the perceptions of the world in the 1930s.  Most authors are women and don’t have easy-to-find biographies.

It’s interesting to think about the children that read these books. I don’t think either of my parents did unless they saw them at school; they were rural/small town children during the Great Depression when the family finances were tight and buying books would not have been the priority. Perhaps some children in towns large enough to have libraries might have seen books there. Carnegie had built about half his libraries by the 1930s but the libraries were short of funds to continue operating during the Depression too. I’m left with the thought that only children of people that were well off (those fortunes were not impacted by the Depression) would have had these books at home.

1930

The adventures of a brownie - Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock; McCracken, James (illustrations)

The nutcracker and the Mouse-king - Hoffmmann, Ernst Theodoor Amadeus; Brock, Emma L. (illustrator)

The unknown Indian - Browne, Gertrude Bell; Vernon, David Thomas (illustrator)

Harry's newspaper;or The young publisher - Cox, Stephen A. D.

Peter Piper's playmates - Hubbard, Eleanore Mineah

 

1931

Fluffy Cat's Tail - Sample, Ann Eliza

Moufflon, the dog of Florence - Ouida; Jenkins, Sara D. (retold by)

Wise Little Donkey -  Segur, Sophie, comtesse de

 

1933

Runzel-Punzel,a story of two little mice - Donaldson, Lois

The Candy Cottage - Furlong, May

The Lost Log Cabin - Furlong, May

The little gardeners - Morgenstern, Elizabeth

Smoky, the lively locomotive - Donaldson, Lois

Farm Folk - Brendel, C.A.

 

1934

Nimbo,the story of an African boy - Pease, Josephine Van Dolzen

Snowy for luck - Goode, Arthur Russell; Wiese, Kurt

Ho-Ming : girl of new China  - Lewis, Elizabeth Foreman

 

1935

Over the castle walls - Mabry, Caroline

Buffin - Barrett, Leone

Bing of the Diamond Tail - Gauss, Marianne

 

1936

The Traveling Gallery - Schiff, Besse; Brock, Emma

Sondo - a Liberian boy - Jospeph, Alfred Ward; Magnie, Bernice (illustrator)

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the yellow shed - Lindman, Maj

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the gingerbread - Lindman, Maj

 

1937

Firecracker - Gauss, Marianne

Hans Christian of Elsinore - Kristoffersen, Eva M.

Cheeky - a prairie dog - Lau, Jospehine Sanger; Wiese, Kurt (illustrator)

Silver Chief To the Rescue - O'Brien, Jack; Wiese, Kurt (illustrator)

A doll's family album - King, Edna Knowles

 

1938

Hoofbeats, a picture book of horses - Cannon, James Leonard

Me and Andy, a boy and dog story - Kelly, Raymond Ramsome

Carnival time at Strobeck - Harris, Mary V.

The luck of the house  -  the story of a family and a sword - Bedford-Atkins, Gladys

Dolls - an Anthology - Robinson, Julia A.

Donkey beads  -  a tale of a Person donkey - Ratzesberger, Anna

The runaway papoose - Moon, Grace and Karl