Recalling a Golden Era
By Sara Antill, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 12/20/2007
On a Thursday evening earlier this month, a crowd gathered at Strand Books in New York City to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Golden Books with author Leonard Marcus as he discussed his latest book, Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children’s Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became an American Icon Along the Way.
After an introduction by PW children’s reviews editor Elizabeth Devereaux, the evening got underway with a slide show featuring several illustrations from Golden Books past, including a certain poky little puppy. In vivid detail, Marcus described the history of Little Golden Books, and he provided several explanations as to how the books have taken their place in our collective cultural psyche. One such example involved the decision to leave the names of individual authors and illustrators off the books’ front covers—an early use of “branding” that Marcus believes allowed children to connect not to a particular author but to the Golden Books idea as a whole.
 Marcus with Ellin Rothstein, who is pictured on the front of his book. |
One special guest in attendance was Ellin Rothstein, whose childhood photo graces the cover of Golden Legacy. Rothstein had given the photo to a downstairs neighbor who worked at Golden Books, hoping that it could someday be of use. “I was surprised, years later, when I got a call saying they wanted to use it for the cover of a new book,” she recalled with a smile.
As the evening came to a close, Marcus offered some final thoughts on the books’ enduring cultural legacy, noting, “Magazines have Norman Rockwell, films have Frank Capra, and children’s books have Little Golden Books.”
