Do you still have mental images of “book people” you loved when you were a child? Many of my own favorites come from the work of Garth Williams. Stuart Little yearning for Margalo. Fern Arable “up at dawn to rid the world of injustice.” Little Bear planning a trip to the moon. All these images still give me great pleasure.
The most magical, in every sense, are his full-color images of elves and fairies in a huge mass-marketed “Golden” picture book. (Jane Werener Watson, The Golden Books’ Treasury of Elves and Fairies, Golden Books, 1951, reprinted 1999.)
Some other books illustrated by Garth Williams:
- E.B.White, Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, “Little House on the Prairie” books.
- Russell Hoban, the “Frances” books.
- George Selden, Cricket in Times Square.
- Margery Sharp, The Rescuers.
Up the aery mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go ahunting
for fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, Red cap
And white owl’s feather….
(Poem by William Allingham,1824-1889)