COLLECTION #238: Vintage American Book Company Readers

These mostly 1960s edition readers were produced by the American Book Company, under the name Betts Basic Readers. The original edition (of which I have one: Down Singing River), was published in 1949. The others were all published in 1958 and 1965. The fun little mottled covers with their fanciful modern illustration by Oscar Liebman are a delightful addition to my school book collection.

Although the illustrations in these books are not my absolute favorites of my school books, the stories in these readers are wonderful. The word adventure in the title of several of the books is perfect: there is lots of adventure to be found here! Stories of children from different parts of the USA, different times in history, and different places in the world, all have a definite adventurous tone. Conflict resolution, creativity, excitement, and appreciation for different cultures and times are the centerpiece of all of these stories.

COLLECTION #91: Vintage Golden Rule Reader Series

 Today's collection are these adorable late 1950s readers from the American Book Company's "Golden Rule" series of readers. I have the complete set, and I just love each one. They are called Golden Rule because they have a strong, but not preachy moral lesson in each story. The stories emphasize problem solving, kindness, creativity, honesty and respect. The illustrations are charming. Each book has a variety of illustrators, and I love them all. My favorites are done by Beth and Joe Krush. (the first and third examples below). The Krushes illustrated the famous Borrower series of books, written in the 1950s and early '60s.

In the spirit of the first famous school readers, the McGuffy Readers, these books are subtitled: the Modern McGuffy Readers. This is because the authors felt strongly that the original McGuffy Readers were so effective and successful in not just teaching children to read, but in communicating and teaching strong moral principles, this spirit was infused into these new readers.

I had these books in elementary school. I can remember seeing them for the first time, and being impressed with the design of the covers. Soft pastel colors, with whimsical illustrations scattered about. I thought the illustrations and stories were wonderful. The center story above, with the little girl and her father building a bookshelf out of boards and bricks, stuck in my mind for many years. I wanted a bookshelf like that! Perhaps that's why when I was in college, I built my own brick & board bookshelves!