Walt Disney’s Children’s Classics 1937–1953

Travel from Snow White’s castle to Dumbo’s circus tent and back to Neverland with Peter Pan through midcentury illustrations that Disney artists such as Al Dempster, Campbell Grant, and Retta Scott Worcester made for the Golden Books. This anthology of 10 stories is introduced by an essay with documentary photographs and drafts of gouache drawings.

Animated Reading

Experience vintage children's storybook illustrations by early Disney artists

In Los Angeles during the 1940s and 1950s, Disney artists popularized illustration for children both on the big screen and in the pages of the Golden Books, a series of affordably priced children's books. These stories distilled the visual language of Disney films and brought historic and contemporary tales to life through compelling and inventive works of art. The selection of material in this book by 7 different artists reflects the variety of stylistic approaches that defined animation and illustration at the Disney studio.

The book begins with an introduction to the artistic milieu that characterized the Disney studio, and each of the 10 stories is illustrated with complete original art and text. Biographies of the artists featured are included in the appendix. This hardcover anthology of vintage illustration will captivate adults and children alike.

The following Disney stories are featured in the book:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, Peter and the Wolf, Once Upon a Wintertime, The Adventures of Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan

The author

Charles Solomon is an internationally respected animation critic and historian and has written for The New York Times, Newsweek (Japan), Los Angeles Times, International Herald Tribune, Variety, Télérama, and National Public Radio and is the author of 17 books on animation, including Once Upon a Dream: From Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty to Disney’s Maleficent and Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and the first film book nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2008, Solomon received the LA Press Club Award for radio feature reporting and ASIFA-Hollywood’s June Foray Award in 2015.

The editor

Kenneth Shue joined The Walt Disney Company in 1995 and contributed his creative talents for over 27 years. As Vice President, Global Art and Design Development, he oversaw illustration and design of Disney Publishing Worldwide content for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm, as well as selected projects for Walt Disney Imagineering. He has been honored with a Disney Publishing Leadership Award and a Walt Disney Inventor Award. He is currently based in Monterey, California.

Walt Disney’s Children’s Classics 1937–1953Hardcover, quarter-bound, 20.5 x 25.6 cm, 1.58 kg, 376 pages

ISBN 978-3-8365-9925-2