I think reading old children’s books is fascinating. My kids love the original “Curious George” and “Blueberries for Sal.” I love peeking into the illustrations of a long ago time (characters are smoking and carrying guns for fun- Christopher Robin has a gun in the original Winnie the Pooh). The thing is, the oldest children’s books I can find at my library are from the 1940s which is only 80 years ago. I want to find books that are even older. I can easily find adult books over 100 years old that are still popular- Pride and Prejudice, Shakespeare’s plays, A Christmas Carol. Does anyone have old children’s books they like? (I’m looking for picture books as my oldest is 4.)
by newenglander87
13 Comments
I used to collect children’s books from the 1920’s through the ‘50’s when my kids were very young. I found them in antique stores and also on Ebay, but that was over 30 years ago, not sure what Ebay would have these days, but there was quite a good selection many years ago. Used book stores often have a few.
I find vintage children’s books on AbeBooks.com.
Not picture books, so maybe not quite what you’re looking for, but have you checked out E. Nesbit’s books, like [Five Children and It](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/043b971d-43c8-4389-b0c8-3ac6615236a8) and [The Railway Children](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/66fb18b6-fcf5-4cf2-8271-cfa013c33b57)?
Wee Gillis.
Ferdinand the Bull.
Stone Soup.
When we were very Young, Now we are Six (both poetry).
The Elephant’ s Child.
The Bobbsey Twins
My favorite book (for the illustrations) was Gia and the One Hundred Dollars Worth of Bubble Gum (1974). Every page is packed with drawings and it was endlessly fascinating to me as a young kid. It’s a trippy book for sure.
I think the book is out of print, sadly, but you could probably pick up a good used copy.
Some of the The Little Golden Books are quite old, maybe not 100 years but getting there. The pictures are great, seeing old style houses, toys, the art style, messaging and language used. I’ve found some of the oldest ones at garage sales and flea markets.
Just so stories
My fathers dragon
Pooh
Grimm’s complete
Half magic
Check out a website called “Vintage Books My Kid Loves.” I don’t think she updates much anymore but it’s a treasure trove of info about a lot of wonderful old kids and includes a lot of pictures. Might be fun for you to look through.
Grimm’s Fairy-tales are very old. There have been various compilations of the stories through the years. Prior to the 1920s this was the way stories were told to children.
This isn’t necessarily helpful right now, but for your grandkids someday – if you have the space and are able, save your kids’ books to give back to them for their kids! My mom did this and it’s so much fun to go back to books I remember loving when I was little. Some were ones that had been my parents’ when they were kids too, so it’s really neat to be able to pass those down.
Look into Kate Greenway And Randolph caldecott. Also Beatrix Potter
Picture books (but may not have originally had pictures attached in earliest editions):
The Owl and the Pussycat (1870)
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot (1939)
All Beatrix Potter picture books (they are sometimes sold as collections, too, with all the illustrated stories collected into one easy book) such as:
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901)
The Tailor of Gloucester (1903)
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (1903)
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904)
The Tale of Miss Tiggy-Winkle (1905)
The Tale of Tom Kitten (1907)
The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies (1909)
Hans Christian Andersen’s stories (may not have originally had illustrations at first publication, I’m not sure) such as:
The Little Mermaid (1837)
The Little Match Girl (1845)
and many more (often sold in collection format, with many stories bundled together)
Not picture books but really old children’s books:
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
Peter Pan by JM Barrie (1902)
Project Gutenberg also has a children’s picture books section with picture books that are old enough to have entered the public domain (so generally picture books from around 1920 and earlier). Another picture book I saw listed there was The House that Jack Built by Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886). You can access the list here and read the books digitally through the website as well if your library doesn’t have a copy: [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/22?start_index=26](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/22?start_index=26)
**My personal favourites from this list are The Owl and The Pussycat and anything by Beatrix Potter**.
Edit: when I was a kid I also loved Cicely Mary Barker’s flower fairies books, the first one came out in the early-mid-1920s.