When we bought our house from the State of Oregon in 2012, it was a fairly drawn out process and even after we had signed papers there were some strange delays. We were actually packed up to move more than a month before we got the keys. I can't remember the exact number of book boxes we had at that point (70+), but they were all stacked, inaccessible, in my in-laws' garage.
Except for six books I had somehow failed to notice while packing. These books, from The Children of All Lands series, were all we had to read to a 5, 4, and 2 year old. And they actually succeeded in keeping their attention—Lucy (now 14) still remembers learning about castanets in The Little Spanish Dancer!
There are a total of 18 books in the All Lands series, and an additional six in The Children of America collection. Mostly written by Madeline Brandeis, Bernadine Bailey contributed three titles, Margaret Sutton two, and Gladys Shaw Erskine, one. They were published between 1928-1943.
The All Lands books depict fictional children from around the globe in realistic settings of their time. Each of the Children of America books covers a group of four or five states forming a section of the United States. These, too, combine story, history, geography, and the modern scene. While all have beautifully sketched end papers, they are mostly illustrated with b/w photographs. A fascinating snapshot of the lives of children in the period between the two World Wars!
Early editions have blue covers with a red accent and full-color dust jackets; they measure approx 7"W x 8.75"H. Some reprints have a full-color front-cover pasted pasted on. WWII-era reprints are narrower, at 5.5"W.
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