Friday, November 11, 2011

COLLECTION #96: Vintage School Readers and Workbooks

We called them "Think and Do Books", (which was actually the registered name of the Scott, Foresman and Company workbooks) they were the soft-covered books that accompanied our readers and other books, which we could actually write and draw in. Heaven forbid if we made so much as a pencil mark in our precious readers! Most of these books were thrown away when they were filled out, so it's always fun to find one of these today, especially one that hasn't been written in. (Actually, it doesn't bother me a bit to find one that has been written in because it's such a little window into someone's life to see their writing and coloring!)


Here are a few of the workbooks I've found, for which I have corresponding readers.  These are all from the late '40s, and '50s.  I've included a few of the inside pages, because they are so charming. The Many Surprises workbook is actually one edition earlier than the reader, but I've included the illustration of the monkey on the cover of the workbook.


The Many Surprises is a first grade
reader, published by Lyons and
Carnahan.



Both Around the Corner (second grade) and Trails to Treasure (fifth grade) were published by Ginn and Company.

They are wonderful readers and workbooks, full of fun stories and great illustrations. The workbooks are interesting, challenging, and fun to look at.


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