Golden Books Popular Books

Golden Books Biography & Facts

Little Golden Books is an American series of children's books, published since 1942. The Poky Little Puppy, the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States. Many other Little Golden Books have become bestsellers, including Tootle, Scuffy the Tugboat, The Little Red Hen, and Doctor Dan the Bandage Man. Several of its illustrators later became influential within the children's book industry, including Corinne Malvern, Tibor Gergely, Gustaf Tenggren, Feodor Rojankovsky, Richard Scarry, Eloise Wilkin, and Garth Williams. Many books in the Little Golden Books series deal with nature, science, Bible stories, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales. Christmas titles are published every year. Some Little Golden Books and related products have featured popular characters from other media, such as Cartoon Network, Disney, Looney Tunes, The Muppets, Sesame Street, Sonic the Hedgehog, Barbie, Power Rangers, Thomas the Tank Engine, and others. Film, television, and movie properties have been particularly popular source material. Hopalong Cassidy, Cheyenne, Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Captain Kangaroo, Mister Rogers, and Donny and Marie Osmond have appeared in Little Golden Books. The line has also published occasional biographies; examples include Betty White, Dolly Parton and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The series started with publishing firm Simon & Schuster; Western Printing and Lithographing Company in Racine, Wisconsin was Simon & Schuster's partner in the Little Golden Books venture, with Western handling print operations. Ownership and control of the series have changed several times since; today, Penguin Random House is its current publisher. Despite changes in detail, the Little Golden Books maintain a distinctive appearance. A copy of The Poky Little Puppy bought today is essentially the same as one printed in 1942. Both are readily recognizable as Little Golden Books. At the time of the series' golden anniversary in 1992, Golden Books claimed that a billion and a half Little Golden Books had been sold. Although the Little Golden Books have remained the backbone of the product line, the enterprise that produced them has created a variety of children's books in various forms of media, including records, tapes, videos, and toys and games. Some titles have appeared in several different formats (including "A Golden Book"). History Georges Duplaix, who in 1940 was head of Artists and Writers Guild Inc. (a division of Western Publishing), first came up with this idea when he created new books for children. Meanwhile, a shared printing plant led Western and Simon & Schuster to develop a close relationship. In 1938, Western and Simon & Schuster released their first joint creation, A Children’s History.Duplaix had the idea to produce a colorful, more durable and affordable children's book than those being published at that time which sold for $2 to $3. With the help of his fellow Guild colleague Lucile Olge, Duplaix contacted Albert Leventhal and Leon Shimkin with his idea (Albert and Leon work for Simon & Schuster, and Albert serves as the company's vice president and sales manager). The group decided to publish twelve titles for simultaneous release in what was to be called the Little Golden Books Series. Each book would have 42 pages, 28 printed in two-color, and 14 in four-color. The books would be staple-bound. The group first discussed a 50-cent price for the books, but Western did not want to compete with other 50-cent books already on the market. The group calculated that if the print run for each title was 50,000 copies instead of 25,000, the books could affordably sell for 25 cents each. Mary Reed, Ph.D., a professor at the Teachers College, Columbia University, served as initial editor of the series. The first 12 titles were printed in September 1942 and released to stores in October: Three Little Kittens, by Marie Simchow Stern Bedtime Stories, illus. Gustaf Tenggren Mother Goose, by Phyllis Fraser, illus. Gertrude E. Espenscheid Prayers for Children, by Rachel Taft Dixon The Little Red Hen, illus. Rudolf Freund Nursery Songs, by Leah Gale, illus. Corinne Malvern The Alphabet from A to Z, by Leah Gale, illus. Vivienne Blake and Richard Peck The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey, illus. Gustaf Tenggren The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, by Winfield Scott Hoskins Baby's Book of Objects The Animals of Farmer Jones, by Leah Gale, illus. Richard Scarry This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes, by Phyllis Cerf Wagner, illus. Roberta Harris Pfafflin PettyThree editions totaling 1.5 million books sold out within five months of publication in 1942. Simon & Schuster editor Dorothy A. Bennett also worked with Duplaix on the Little Golden Books. Bennett became the editor of the franchise, producing books by such authors and illustrators as Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd, Edith Thacher Hurd, and Garth Williams. Bennett authored several Golden Books, and introduced some of the first recorded books for children with Little Golden Records in 1948.The series underwent an expansion when Lucy Sprague Mitchell (educator and founder of Bank Street Nursery School now Bank Street College of Education) joined. A strong supporter of realistic children's literature, Mitchell created the Bank Street Writer's Laboratory. Works coming from this institution became the new basis for the Little Golden Book series, with characters and situations often inspired by the very locale of the Bank School. As historian Leonard S. Marcus writes: Mitchell had been in discussions with Georges Duplaix and Lucille Ogle as early as 1943 about the possibility of a special series of Little Golden Books written by members of Bank Street Writer’s Laboratory. Wartime shortages had delayed the launch of the series until 1946. The first two titles appeared that year: Lucy Sprague Mitchell's The New House in the Forest, illustrated by Eloise Wilkins, and The Taxi That Hurried, coauthored by Irma Simonton Black and Jessie Stanton, with illustrations by Tibor Gergely. In 1958, Simon & Schuster sold its interest in Little Golden Books to Western Publishing. The price of Little Golden Books rose to 29¢ in 1962. Western introduced a line of Big Little Golden Books for slightly older children aged five and up. Some titles from this series range from brand new stories (such as The House That Had Enough) to reprints (such as The Monster at the End of This Book). In the 1980s, Golden Books introduced Golden Melody Books. Titles from this series included a long-lasting electronic chip that played music when readers open those books. Songs featured in this series range from popular children's songs such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, to songs from children's TV and family movies including People in Your Neighborhood from Sesame Street and Heigh-Ho from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the year 2000, Encore Software produced a series of ".... Discover the Golden Books popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Golden Books books.

Best Seller Golden Books Books of 2024

  • Golden Girl synopsis, comments

    Golden Girl

    Elin Hilderbrand

    In this #1 bestselling pageturner from "the queen of beach reads" (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on eart...

  • The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles synopsis, comments

    The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles

    Padraic Colum

    This books is the strange and wondrous adventure of Jason and his Argonauts through uncharted waters where clashing rocks dash the sea, to shores where harpies with wings of birds...

  • The Golden Age Cook Book synopsis, comments

    The Golden Age Cook Book

    Henrietta Latham Dwight

    This book is affectionately Inscribed. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the ...

  • The Golden Sayings of Epictetus synopsis, comments

    The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

    Epictetus

    The Golden Sayings of Epictetus , including the Hymn of Cleanthes. Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher. Epictetus taught that philosoph was a way of life, and note purely theor...

  • The Rumor synopsis, comments

    The Rumor

    Elin Hilderbrand

    A friendship is tested in this "thrilling" pageturner from New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand (Us Weekly). Madeline King and Grace Pancik are best friends and the e...

  • The Golden Bell synopsis, comments

    The Golden Bell

    Autumn Dawn

    A Darklands NovelYou can bring them in from the wild, but you can’t always tame them.Fallon is a man with a bloody past, and a rough and ready way with justice. Rain is a woman on ...

  • The Golden Tresses of the Dead synopsis, comments

    The Golden Tresses of the Dead

    Alan Bradley

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A finger in a wedding cake is only the beginning in this deliciously shocking mystery featuring Flavia de Luce, “the world’s greatest adolescent British ...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Marcus Thompson

    The #1 national bestseller and inside story of Steph Curry, the greatest shooter basketball has ever seen.Golden is the first book to provide an allaccess look at Steph Curry and t...

  • 21 Golden Rules of Entrepreneurship synopsis, comments

    21 Golden Rules of Entrepreneurship

    Jason Nazar & Rochelle Bailis

    This very quick and entertaining eBook will take you less than an hour to read, but its effects may last a lifetime. Let Jason Nazar, the CEO and founder of Docstoc Inc. walk you t...

  • The Golden Dynasty synopsis, comments

    The Golden Dynasty

    Kristen Ashley

    Circe Quinn, the office manager of a moving company, goes to sleep at home and wakes up in a corral filled with women wearing sacrificial virgin attireand she’s one of them.She fig...

  • Golden Chances synopsis, comments

    Golden Chances

    Rebecca Hagan Lee

    Can you borrow a bride for nine months without her stealing your heart?   A demure member of the Richmond Ladies Sewing Circle, Faith Collins certainly isn’t the type of lady ...

  • The Disappeared synopsis, comments

    The Disappeared

    C. J. Box

    Don’t miss the JOE PICKETT seriesnow streaming on Paramount+Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett has two lethal cases to contend with in this electrifying novel from #1 New York Timesbe...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Itamar Srulovich & Sarit Packer

    Comforting breads, buns, pastries, cakes, cookies, and other baked delights from the Middle East There's always something sweet in the oven at Honey & Co., the tiny restaurant...

  • Golden Hill synopsis, comments

    Golden Hill

    Francis Spufford

    A Wall Street Journal Top Ten Fiction Book of 2017 A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of the Year A Seattle Times Favorite Book of 2017 An NPR Best Book of 2017 A Kirkus Re...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Jessi Kirby

    Love, tragedy, and mystery converge in this compelling novel that Booklist called “rich in its characterizations, deep in its reflections about teenage life, and compelling as a my...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Jeff Coen

    No one did political corruption quite like Rod Blagojevich. The 40th governor of Illinois made international headlines in 2008 when he was roused from his bed and arrested by the F...

  • Golden Buddha synopsis, comments

    Golden Buddha

    Clive Cussler & Craig Dirgo

    In the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Oregon Files series, Chairman Juan Cabrillo and his crew are hired by the US government to free Tibet from Chinese control.....

  • The Golden Hour synopsis, comments

    The Golden Hour

    Beatriz Williams

    “The Golden Hour is pure golden delight Beatriz Williams is at the top of her game.” Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Alice NetworkBeatriz Williams, the New Yor...

  • The Golden Enclaves synopsis, comments

    The Golden Enclaves

    Naomi Novik

    #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A D...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston

    The actionpacked finale to the series Entertainment Weekly calls, "part epic fantasy and part social commentary . . . addictive."Recast the spell. Light the flame. Make the world a...

  • Golden Prey synopsis, comments

    Golden Prey

    John Sandford

    THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERLucas Davenport’s first case as a U.S. Marshal sends him into uncharted territory in the thrilling new novel in the #1 New York Timesbestselling series...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Cameron Dokey

    "Once upon a Time" Is Timeless Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared...

  • The Golden Couple synopsis, comments

    The Golden Couple

    Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

    The next electrifying novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us."Propulsive and thrilling....A pageturner that will keep you guessing until...

  • Golden in Death synopsis, comments

    Golden in Death

    J. D. Robb

    In the latest thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, homicide detective Eve Dallas investigates a murder with a mysterious motiveand a terrifying weapon.Pediatrician...

  • Golden Fool synopsis, comments

    Golden Fool

    Robin Hobb

    “Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”George R. R. Martin Prince Dutiful has been rescued from his Piebald kidnappers a...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Ronnie Ron

    An interracial gay relationship forms between Golden and his black love interest Emmanuel, but circumstances happen and Golden goes on a downward spiral, and as he finds himself wh...

  • Hot Off the Press synopsis, comments

    Hot Off the Press

    Lexy Timms

    "This is what really happened… reported by a free press, for a free people…"Wes Shaw leads a secret double life.As the secret owner of a billion dollar newspaper empire, he's ...

  • The Golden Bough synopsis, comments

    The Golden Bough

    James George Frazer

    The book is a wideranging, comparative study of mythology and religion. The work was aimed at a wide literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfi...

  • Golden Son synopsis, comments

    Golden Son

    Pierce Brown

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, b...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    K.M. Robinson

    Goldilocks wasn't naive. She was sent on a mission and Dov Baer is her new target."GOLDEN is a daring retelling full of intrigue, betrayal, danger, and just the right amount of swo...

  • The Golden Road synopsis, comments

    The Golden Road

    L.M. Montgomery

    The plot is based around the character Beverley who remembers his childhood days with his brother Felix and friends and cousins Felicity, Cecily, Dan, Sara Stanley (the "Story Girl...

  • The Golden Lily synopsis, comments

    The Golden Lily

    Richelle Mead

    The second thrilling installment in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy spinoff series, BloodlinesTough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doeeyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hi...

  • These Happy Golden Years synopsis, comments

    These Happy Golden Years

    Laura Ingalls Wilder

    The eighth book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's treasured Little House series, and the recipient of a Newbery Honornow available as an ebook! This digital version features Garth Williams...

  • Golden synopsis, comments

    Golden

    Justin Zorn & Leigh Marz

    Silence isn’t just the absence of noise. It’s a presence that brings us energy, clarity, and deeper connection.Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz take us on an unlikely journeyfrom the Wes...