If Apples Had Teeth

Shirley Glaser

A lovely vintage book illustrated by the creator of the iconic I♥NY logo — a playful invitation to question the way things are:

What Can I Be?

Ann Rand & Ingrid Fiksdahl King

A lovely vintage concept book about how the imagination works, newly discovered and illustrated.

The Pancake King

Phyllis La Farge and Seymour Chwast

Marvelous vintage children’s book about how success and prestige hijack our sense of purpose, illustrated by the great graphic designer Seymour Chwast:

Kenny’s Window

Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak’s forgotten, wonderfully philosophical first book:

Bronzeville Boys and Girls

Gwendolyn. Brooks

Lovely vintage verses for and about kids by Gwendolyn Brooks, the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

The Brownstone

Paula Scher

Legendary graphic designer Paula Scher’s lovely children’s book about living in harmony with each other’s differences

The Quiet Noisy Book

Margaret Wise Brown

The Quiet Noisy Book—a little-known vintage gem by Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown:

Voltaire’s Micromegas

Elizabeth Hall

Voltaire’s magnificent homage to Newton, adapted for young readers in a rare vintage children’s book full of timeless wisdom and wit:

The Big Green Book

Robert Graves and Maurice Sendak

In 1962, Maurice Sendak and Robert Graves collaborated in a wonderful and subversive children’s book celebrating the magic of reading and how books transform us:

When I Have a Little Girl/When I Have a Little Boy (Flip-Flop Book)

Charlotte Zolotow

A vintage illustrated daydream about life without unimaginative rules by beloved children’s book author Charlotte Zolotow and the great Hilary Knight, the illustrator behind Eloise:

The Missing Piece Meets the Big O

Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein’s sweet, minimalist allegory for the simple secret of love – a gentle reminder that the best relationships don’t complete us but let us grow and become more fully ourselves:

Books!

Murray McCain

“There is a reason for nearly everything.”

Lovely vintage illustrated love letter to books, how they’re made, and why they matter to us:

The Charles Addams Mother Goose

Charles Addams

“Come with a hoop, Come with a call, Come with a good will, Or not at all.”

For Charles Addams’s birthday, his forgotten vintage Mother Goose illustrations:

Umbrella

Taro Yashima

Umbrella – a tender illustrated love letter to time, anticipation, and the art of waiting by mid-century Japanese illustrator Taro Yashima, and a refreshing touch of diversity in children’s books to this day

A Stocking for a Kitten

Helen Kay & Yaroslava

Such beautiful vintage children’s book illustrations of domestic life and craft in Eastern Europe – amid a story about entitlement, empathy, and ethics, with a large helping of grandmotherly love