A Mary Blair Treasury of Golden Books

From Baby’s House (1950) to The Up and Down Book (1964), this collection unites the picture books Blair illustrated for Golden Books. In the introduction, animator/historian John Canemaker praises Blair’s “playful imagination, adroit technical skill, and... superb gift for storytelling,” all of which are evident in the stories that follow. Whether it’s the exuberant and rosy-cheeked tyke in Baby’s House, the doe-eyed animals in I Can Fly, the unexpected use of a pastel palette in The Golden Book of Little Verses, or the chunky characterizations in The Up and Down Book, Blair’s influence on many of the illustrators at work today is unmistakable by book’s end. Ages 3–6. (Aug.)