IL GIORNALINO DELLA DOMENICA. Vamba, Luigi Bertelli, 1906. Anno 1, N.2. Luglio (July) 1906. (Rare Second Issue of this Publication.) Important and Influential Early Italian Children's Magazine. Text in Italian. Thin magazine, covers illustrated in color, inner pages in b&w, side stapled (single, large staple in the middle of the spine fold), 8"x11", 17 numbered pages plus 3 pages of ads (2 at the front, 1 at the rear). TEXT IN ITALIAN. GOOD condition. There is a vertical crease down the middle from where the issue was probably folded in half, perhaps to fit in a pocket; there is some edge creasing and wear including a few small closed tears; the inner pages and rear cover have toned; still a solid, complete, clean copy. SCARCE SECOND NUMBER of this ITALIAN CHILDREN'S JOURNAL. From Wikipedia: ******IL GIORNALINO DELLA DOMENICA was 'the prototype of the modern periodical for children in Italy'. The magazine which was a high-quality publication was published between 1906 and 1927. Founded in 1906 in Florence by 'Vamba', a pseudonym of the journalist Luigi Bertelli (1858 - 1920). Il giornalino della Domenica adopted an avant-garde style and a tone markedly patriotic and irredentist. Publication was initially weekly and its cover price of 25 centesimi made it distinctly more expensive than its rival the Corriere dei Piccoli which was launched two years later. IL GIORNALINO DELLA DOMENICA targeted urban middle-class children. Its goal was not teach them to write or read, but to recognize their fantasies and desires through stories, poems and essays. Contributors included many of the most prominent Italian writers of the period as well as leading exponents of the graphic arts. Letters and other contributions from its young readers were also sought; those who responded included the daughters of Italo Svevo and Benito Mussolini. The magazine ceased publication in 1927.******

THE SUNBONNET BABIES IN HOLLAND : A Second Reader. By EULALIE OSGOOD GROVER. Illustrated by Bertha Corbett Melcher. SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by the AUTHOR in FRENCH on a blank prelim: "A une chère petite amie. Avec mes bons voeux de Nouvelle Année. / 1918 / E. G. / 13 Janvier". (To a dear little girl friend. With my best wishes for the New Year / 1918 / E. G. (Eulalie Grover signed with her initials) / January 13.) The leaf on which the inscription is written is disbound, it has neatly torn away from the spine edge. It matches perfectly with the edge where it became disbound. It has a 1 inch closed tear starting at the top edge, not affecting text. The tear is tape repaired on the backside. (The closed tear does not show up in the photos, but it is there.) The leaf is rather fragile and is now housed in a plastic sleeve, for protection. Published by Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, 1915. First Edition, First Printing, with the date 1915 on the copyright page with no indication of additional printings. Hardcover Book, 6x7.5 inches, 150 pages. Illustrated throughout with lovely color drawings. GOOD condition. The front cover has a 3 inch thin bubble line, and a bump to its top edge; the rear cover has soiling and its upper front corner is bumped; nonetheless the covers are bright and doing their job well. The front and rear endpapers are toned; the page with the inscription is toned, disbound (as noted above), has a 1 inch closed tear starting at its top edge, and has tape to its upper corner on the written side and a couple strips of tape on its blank verso; pages 62 to 92 are creased at their upper edge; overall a nice copy that is bright, clean, and clear. RARE with the lovely HANDWRITTEN INSCRIPTION of EULALIE GROVER. About EULALIE OSGOOD GROVER (from the University of Pennsylvania website): ******Eulalie Osgood Grover was born on June 22, 1873 in Mantorville, Minnesota. She authored the SUNBONNET BABIES series, starting with The Sunbonnet Babies Primer, which was published in 1902. The books were based around a 150 word vocabulary and included songs which were used in schools throughout the United States. Her illustrator for the Sunbonnet series, Bertha L. Corbett, later Bertha Corbett Melcher, studied in Philadelphia under Howard Pyle. In 1905, Grover wrote a second series,

The Overall Boys. She published twenty-seven books, including

SUNBONNET BABIES IN HOLLAND (1915) and The Overall Boys in Switzerland (1916), drawing from her travels in Europe. These books were used by second and third grade students as geography textbooks. She also edited a book of nursery rhymes, Mother Goose: The Original Volland Edition (1915). She died in Winter Park, Florida on December 18, 1958.******

ONE KITTEN TOO MANY, by Bianca Bradbury and Marie C. Nichols.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1952. First edition, with the date 1952 on both the title page and copyright page, and with no indication of additional printings.

Hardcover Children's Book, cloth covered boards, no dustjacket, title and illustration on front cover, 6x8 inches, 32 pages. Illustrated throughout with kittens getting into all sorts of mischief.

SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED, along with a small drawing, by "JOLLY" BILL STEINKE, a noted Cartoonist, Comedian, and Radio and TV Personality of the day. Presumably it is a gift inscription: "To David (?) / That fine & up and coming artist from San Jose / From / His TV Friend / Jolly Bill Steinke / 6.5.1952".

FAIR condition, the covers are soiled, and worn at the corner tips and spine ends, the cloth is worn through at the corners and some places along the edges; internally there are smudges, some spots, and corner creases, here and there throughout; the rear blank free endpaper has three lines of writing in ink unrelated to the book ("...bought an ice cream cone"); otherwise still a solid copy with tight binding and pages that are free of any children's scribbles or crayon marks.

A Vintage Children's Book with a Nice SIGNATURE, INSCRIPTION and ASSOCIATION to BILL STEINKE.

OBSERVATIONAL STUDY of a KINDERGARTEN GROUP USING CONSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, by Jack Durio Hoag, M.F.A. California College of Arts and Crafts 1954; M.A. University of California, 1958. DISSERTATION for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (Berkeley). Hardcovers, paper title label on spine, inner pages are typed carbon copies and pages with pasted on photographs with typed annotations pasted on beside them. 136 total pages, printed on one side only; 26 have pasted on photographs and annotations. VERY GOOD condition, just lightly used, still tight, bright, clean and clear. A UNIQUE U.C. BERKELEY DOCTORAL THESIS IN EDUCATION. INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: This book is somewhat large and heavy, and will require additional shipping charges. After placing your order you will be notified of the additional charges and be able to accept or reject them before your payment is processed. Or you can contact us ahead of time to find out the shipping charge to your country. Thanks.

TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER - Rare POSTER for the EMI FILM starring the DANCERS of the ROYAL BALLET. The poster is 39.5" x 30" oblong. GOOD PLUS Condition: The poster has been FOLDED to a manageable size, creating several HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL FOLDS; there is some light edgewear; someone has written "BEATRIX POTTER" in ink on the blank backside; otherwise bright and clear. Will be shipped folded, as was its stored state. About the 1971 Film TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER (from Wikipedia): ******The Tales of Beatrix Potter is a 1971 ballet film based on the children's stories of English author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. The film was directed by Reginald Mills, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton (who danced the role of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle), and featured dancers from the Royal Ballet. The musical score was arranged by John Lanchbery from various sources such as the operas of Michael Balfe and of Sir Arthur Sullivan, and performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Tales of Beatrix Potter is the only feature film directed by Mills, who is best remembered as a film editor. Mills had edited The Red Shoes (1948) and other films directed and produced by Powell and Pressburger which incorporating ballet. The film was given the go ahead by Bryan Forbes during his period as head of production at EMI Films. He recalled that the EMI Board were not enthusiastic, and Nat Cohen had never heard of Beatrix Potter, but he had complete artistic control for any movie made with a budget under £1 million so could gain approval easily. The film was one of the most successful of the Forbes regime at EMI Films. A 1971 review by Roger Ebert was favorable: "The stories are told simply and directly and with a certain almost clumsy charm. Instead of going for perfection in the dancing, the Royal Ballet dancers have gone for characterizations instead. The various animals have their quirks and eccentricities, and they are fairly authentic: The frog dances like a frog, for example, and not like Nureyev." Anthony Nield wrote in 2011, "Tales of Beatrix Potter is one of British cinema's true one-offs, a film quite unlike any other. Ostensibly aimed at children, this adaptation of Potter's various animal-centric stories was mounted by the Royal Ballet and choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton. The tales are rendered as a series of dances, loosely interconnected by the author as a young girl (played by Erin Geraghty) and her active imagination. There are no words, only music and movement as the performers of the Royal Ballet - in full animal costume - interpret her stories' simple narratives." The film's designer, Christine Edzard, was nominated for BAFTA awards for Best Art Direction and for Best Costume Design.******

THE CHILDREN'S STORY, by JAMES CLAVELL.

SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by JAMES CLAVELL on the half title page. Inscribed to the historian ARNOLD KRAMMER. The inscription reads:

"For Arnold Krammer / Please spread this word -- every little helps! / Best / James Clavell / April 82".

Published by Delacorte Press, New York, 1981. First Edition, First Printing in Book Form, with the statement "First Printing" on the copyright page. (Originally published in the Reader's Digest in 1964.)

Hardcover book in dustjacket, 6.5x9 inches, 96 unnumbered pages.

VERY GOOD book, a small indent to the bottom edge of the front cover, otherwise tight, bright, clean, and clear; in a GOOD MINUS dustjacket that is sunned / toned at the spine, has a few small edge scrapes and closed tears, and has a vertical crease to the front flap; otherwise the dj is solid and bright, is doing its job well, and retains its original $7.95 price at the top of the front flap.

The book implies that children need to fully understand and appreciate the Pledge of Allegiance in order to strengthen their minds so they can resist foreign propaganda in all its guises.

Plot Summary (from the Publisher):

******The story takes place in an unnamed school classroom in the United States, in the aftermath of a war between the US and an unnamed country. It is implied that America has been defeated and occupied. The story opens with the previous teacher leaving the classroom, having been removed from her position and replaced with an agent of the foreign power. The new teacher has been trained in propaganda techniques, and is responsible for re-educating the children to be supportive of their occupiers. During the course of the story, the children are persuaded to abandon their religion and national loyalty. Framing the story is the fact that, while the children have ritually recited a 'Pledge of Allegiance' every morning, none know what it actually means. The teacher is relentlessly positive about the change, offering the children candy, songs and praise. When asked if the war was won or lost, she responds only that "we won," implying that everyone would benefit from the conquest.

Only one student is initially hostile to the new teacher, a child named Johnny, whose father had been arrested and placed in a re-education camp. At first, he defends his father, but when he is rewarded by the teacher with a position of authority in the class, he quickly accepts the new regime and commits himself to not accepting "wrong thoughts."******

The inscription to ARNOLD KRAMMER gives this copy an interesting association. Krammer was an American historian who wrote and co-wrote books on Germany including the Nazi propoganda operations.

About the historian ARNOLD KRAMMER (from Wikipedia):

******Arnold Paul Krammer, b.1941 d.2018, was an American historian who specialized in German and United States history and a professor at Texas A&M University.

Krammer was educated at the University of Wisconsin where he obtained a Master of Arts in German history and Russian studies in 1965, and a Ph.D. in German history in 1970. He was twice a Fulbright scholar.

Krammer is the sole author of seven books, the most recent of which is War Crimes, Genocide, and the Law: A Historical Perspective, published in 2009, and the co-author of five books.******

Everyone knows that James Clavell wrote SHOGUN, but did you know he also wrote the screenplay for the 1958 horror film THE FLY and for the film THE GREAT ESCAPE? You can read all about James Clavell on his Wikipedia page and all over the Internet.

THE BLUE HERON TREE, by Edith Thacher Hurd with Illustrations by Clement Hurd. SIGNED by BOTH Edith and Clement Hurd on the half title page. Published by Viking Press, New York, 1968. First edition, first printing, as indicated by the lack of an additional printing statement on the copyright page, and with a $3.95 price at the top of the front flap. Hardcover Book in Dustjacket, 7x9 inches, 66 pages. From the front flap: "An account of mating and nesting habits of the Great Blue Heron, based on observations made over a three year period at the famous Audubon Canyon Ranch rookery on Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County, California. Authentic in every detail..." From the dedication page: "This book is dedicated to the San Francisco Audubon Societies who worked to save the Blue Heron Trees of this story and who are still working to save the feeding grounds of the Bolinas Lagoon at Bolinas, California." Condition: VERY GOOD book, just lightly used, still tight, bright, clean and unmarked; in a GOOD dustjacket that has a few 1/2 inch closed tears and small chips to its edges, and some corner tip and spine end wear, but remains overall solid and bright.

CURIOUS GEORGE GOES TO THE HOSPITAL, by Margret and H.A. REY.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, in Collaboration with the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, 1966. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, with the statement "First Printing" on the copyright page, the date 1966 on both the title page and copyright page, and no indication of additional or later printings.

(BEWARE of the Scholastic Edition published in 1968 which states First Edition and is often touted by sellers as a First Edition. It is not. It is a paperback edition published by Scholastic Books two years after the original hardcover first edition. Read all descriptions carefully and ask to see an image of the title page and copyright page of any copy you are considering. Both must state 1966 and must not show a later date, i.e. 1968, anywhere. And the book must be a hardcover book.)

Hardcover Book, yellow cloth covered boards with red printing and illustration on the front cover, red printing on the spine, illustrated endpapers, 7x9 inches, 48 pages. No dustjacket.

GOOD condition: The covers have some wear to the upper corner tips, are lightly sunned / faded at the spine, and have some light soiling. Internally, there is a small, neat previous owner's name at the upper corner of the front pastedown, a few pages have some light creases from handling, overall just lightly used and still tight, bright, clean, clear and, most importantly for a children's book, unmarked.

One of the more difficult to find first printings in the Curious George series.

JOHN J. PLENTY AND FIDDLER DAN: A NEW FABLE of the GRASSHOPPER and the ANT, by JOHN CIARDI. A Children's Illustrated Book with Poetry Text. Poetry by JOHN CIARDI. Illustrations by MADELEINE GEKIERE. Wonderfully SIGNED and INSCRIBED by JOHN CIARDI on the front free-endpaper: "for Cindy Alder / with not much (?) by John J., / but with all happy wishes from / Fiddler Dan and from / John Ciardi (signed)". Published by Lippincott, Philadelphia and New York, 1963. First Edition, with the date 1963 on the copyright page with no indication of additional printings. Large format hardcover children's book in dustjacket, printed boards, 7.5" x 11", 38 unnumbered pages. Bound in Lippincott Longlife Binding (a sturdy binding). Condition: VERY GOOD BOOK, the bottom front cover corner is bumped, otherwise the book is tight, bright, clean and unmarked; in an only FAIR price-clipped DUSTJACKET that has pieces missing at the top of the spine, is worn with some tearing at its corners, is scraped at the edges and folds, and has clipped flap corners; nonetheless the dj is still doing its job well and the front cover is bright and clear.