Vintage Fiction & Literature

The definition of vintage from Merriam- Webster states, “denoting something of high quality, especially something from the past or characteristic of the best period of a person’s work.” This means vintage is an older item that was designed or manufactured in its prime time. A real leather jacket from the 1940s would be considered vintage clothing. Dictionary.com offers several definitions of the word antique: “of or belonging to the past; not modern;” “dating from a period long ago;” and  “noting or pertaining to automobiles approximately 25 years old or more.” This means antique represents an item that is significantly older of date. It’s understandable why people interchange these two phrases so much, they seem very similar! However, certain items are differentiated between these definitions.

We've purposely used the word "vintage" for this section, and for our purposes are defining that as 50 years or older. As of 2024, that means we include books here from 1974 or before. We would describe books that were printed 100 years or more ago as antique and want to make it clear that you won't find many of those here (though you may find a few). 

Children's literature is said to have had a "Golden Age" starting in the 1860s and lasting until about WWI. It was during this time that perennial favorites like Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Pinocchio, Treasure Island, and Tom Sawyer were published. The latter part of this period coincided with the establishment of Howard Pyle's "Brandywine School" of Illustration, out of which came such artists as N.C. Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, Ethel Franklin Betts, Frank Schoonover, Edward A. Wilson, and numerous others. These artists in turn influenced further generations of illustrators. 

During this period and into the sixties, numerous collections of children's literature were published: Scribners Illustrated Library, Junior Deluxe Editions, Rainbow Classics, Windermere Series and Illustrated Junior Library were among them. Mystery series like Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins proliferated. Anthology collections like Best In Children's Books, My Book House, Collier's Junior Classics, and the Children's Hour became popular. The Newbery and Caldecott Medals were established. And for adults, the Heritage Press volumes (which later became Easton/Franklin) filled many a spot in their libraries. There are, of course, many others, but these are the sorts of books you'll generally find in thus section.

We primarily offer copies in generally good condition here. They're usually hardcover but won't always (or even often) have their original dust jackets. We love to find a range of printings and illustrators, so sometimes you'll have a few options!

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88 Items found Print
Active Filters: 2nd grade (Ages 7-8), In-Stock Books & Materials
Adventures of Jimmy Skunk
by Thornton W. Burgess, illustrated by Harrison Cady
1920 Printing from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by W. Kirtman Plummer
1970 printing from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-3rd grade
in Companion Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
All About Story Book
by Watty Piper (editor), illustrated by Symeon Shimin
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Follett
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Follett
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$34.00 (1 in stock)
Apple Blossoms and Other Stories
by Edmund Stanley and A. R. Taylor
from Scott, Foresman & Co.
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Arthur and the Super Chimp Contest
An I Can Read Book
by Lillian Hoban
from Harper & Row
for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Arthur's Christmas Cookies
I Can Read! Level 2
by Lilian Hoban
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Atlantic Treasury of Childhood Stories
by Mary D. Huchinson Hodgkins (selector and editor), illustrated by Beatrice Stevens
from Atlantic Monthly Press
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Bears, Pirates and Silver Lace
by Anne B. Fisher; illustrated by Phil Nesbitt
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Becky and Her Brave Cat, Bluegrass
by Miriam E. Mason, illustrated by Robert MacLean
from Macmillan
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$38.00 (1 in stock)
Beno, the Riverburg Mayor
from Henry Holt and Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Betsy's Play School
by Carolyn Haywood, illustrated by James Griffin
from William Morrow & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Bible Stories for Young Readers
Junior Deluxe Editions
by April Oursler Armstrong, illustrated by Jules Gotlieb
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Bible Story Books (Location: VIN-BIB)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Bobbsey Twins in the Country
by Laura Lee Hope
Undated from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-4th grade
in Bobbsey Twins (Location: VIN-SER)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Sky Top
Bunny Brown
by Laura Lee Hope, illustrated by Walter S. Rogers
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-5th grade
in Bobbsey Twins (Location: VIN-SER)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Call it Courage
by Armstrong Sperry
1963 printing from Macmillan
for 2nd-6th grade
1941 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Curious Critters
by Patricia Lauber, illustrated by Don Madden
from Garrard Publishing Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$36.00 (1 in stock)
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
by P. C. Asbjornsen & Jorgen E. Moe, illustrated by Tom Vroman
from Macmillan
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Follow That Ghost
by Dale Fife, illustrated by Joan Drescher
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
George the Babysitter
by Shirley Hughes
from Prentice Hall
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Gift from the Mikado
by Elizabeth P. Fleming
from Westminster John Knox Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gollywhopper Egg
by Anne Rockwell
from Macmillan
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Early Readers (Location: EAR-MISC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Good Neighbors
by Diane Redfield Massie
from American Education Publications
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$11.00 (2 in stock)
Great Big Elephant & the Very Small Elephant
by Barbara Seuling
from Crown Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Gregory, the Terrible Eater
by Mitchell Sharmat, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Gus and the Baby Ghost
by Jane Thayer, illustrated by Seymour Fleishman
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Hansi
by Ludwig Bemelmans
Ninth Printing 1969 from Viking Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
Happy Hollisters and the Ice Carnival Mystery
Happy Hollisters #16
by Jerry West
from Doubleday & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Happy Hollisters (Location: VIN-SER)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach
Happy Hollisters #3
by Jerry West
from Doubleday & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Happy Hollisters (Location: VIN-SER)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Harry the Dirty Dog
by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham
from Harper & Row
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Iguana's Tail
by Sir Philip M. Sherlock, illustrated by Gioia Fiammenghi
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Indian Hill
by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by James Spanfeller
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Indian Sleep-Man Tales
by Bernice Anderson, illustrated by Sears Frank
from Bramhall House
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Joey Runs Away
by Jack Kent
from Prentice Hall
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John Hancock
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee, illustrated by Chuck Mitchell
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny-Up and Johnny-Down
by Mabel Leigh Hunt, Illustrated by Harold Berson
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny-Up and Johnny-Down
by Mabel Leigh Hunt, Illustrated by Harold Berson
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Journey Cake, Ho!
by Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1954 Caldecott Honor Book
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Junket
by Anne H. White, illustrated by Robert McCloskey
2nd printing from Viking Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Kiya the Gull
by Fen H. Lasell
from Addison Wesley
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Letter on the Tree
by Natalie Savage Carlson, illustrated by John Kaufmann
from Harper & Row
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Little Maverick Cow
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
McBroom's Ghost
by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Metropolitan Opera Guide
by Mary Ellis Peltz and Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Alexandre Serebriakoff
7th edition from Modern Library
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Miki and Mary
by Maud & Miska Petersham
from Hale-Cadmus
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Miranda and the Cat
by Linell Smith; illustrated by Peggy Bacon
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Mishmash
by Molly Cone, illustrated by Leonard Shortall
3rd printing from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Mister Penny's Circus
by Marie Hall Ets
from Viking Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Moon Singer
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from Thomas Crowell
Fairy Tales & Fables for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
More About Paddington
by Michael Bond
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
More All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #3
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$34.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Dawson Had a Farm
by R. O. Work, illustrated by Dorothy Maas
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Nanook of the North
by Robert Flaherty, edited from the film by Robert Kraus
First Printing from Windmill Books
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
No Room for a Dog
by Marion Holland; illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Random House
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Not Regina
by Christmas Carol Kauffman
Fourth Printing from Pathway Publishers
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ol' Paul the Mighty Logger
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Ootah's Lucky Day
I Can Read
by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Mamoru Funai
from Harper & Row
for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Our Lady of Guadalupe
by Helen Rand Parish, illustrated by Jean Charlot
1964 Printing from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Paddington Abroad
by Michael Bond, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum
Book Club Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Part-Time Dog
by Jane Thayer, illustrated by Seymour Fleishman
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Paul Bunyan Swings His Axe and Tall Timber Tales set
by Dell J. McCormick, illustrated by Lorna Livesley
from Caxton Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Raggedy Andy Stories
Raggedy Ann #2
by Johnny Gruelle
Book Club Edition from Bobbs-Merril Co
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Rocky Point Campers
by Jane Rietveld
from Viking Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Runaway Camel
by Ruth P. Collins, Illustrated by Harold Berson
from Crown Publishers
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Runaway Flea Circus
by Patricia Lauber, illustrated by Catherine Barnes
from Random House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Runaway Ralph
by Beverly Cleary, illustrated by Louis Darling
from Morrow Junior Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Rupert and the Magic Toy Man
by Mary Tourtel
from Samson Low, Marston & Co.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Silver Nightingale and Other Stories
by Ruth Gipson Plowhead, illustrated by Agnes Randall Moore
from Caxton Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Snowbound with Betsy
by Carolyn Haywood
6th printing, 1969 from Yearling
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$125.00 (1 in stock)
Swiss Family Robinson in Words of One Syllable
by I. F. M.
from Mcloughlin Bros. Inc
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Taffy and Melissa Molasses
by Carolyn Haywood
from William Morrow & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Tales of Mr. Pengachoosa
by Caroline Rush, illustrated by Dominique M. Strandquest
First Edition from Crown Publishers
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tales Told in Holland
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Illustrated by Maud & Miska Petersham
from Book House for Children
for 1st-6th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
$18.00 (2 in stock)
Talking Bird
by Idella Purnell and John M. Weatherwax, illustrated by Frances Purnell Dehlsen
1944 Printing from Macmillan
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Three Boys and a Lighthouse
by Nan Hayden Agle and Ellen Wilson, Illustrated by Marian Honigman
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Trail Through Danger
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Charles Beck
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Travels of Monarch X
by Ross E. Hutchins, illustrated by Jerome P. Connolly
from Rand McNally
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Treasury of Nursery Rhymes / Tom Thumb and Other Favorites
by Unknown, illustrated by Charles Robinson & L. Leslie Brooke
from Grolier Publishing
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Undine Told to the Children
by Mary MacGregor, retelling Friedrich de la Motte Fouquee, illustrated by Katharine Cameron
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$46.00 (1 in stock)
What's a Ghost Going to Do?
by Jane Thayer, illustrated by Seymour Fleishman
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
What's the Biggest?
by Barbara R. Fogel, illustrated by Barbara Wolff
from Weekly Reader
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
1961 Redesigned from E.P. Dutton & Co.
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Who'll Vote for Lincoln
by Dale Fife, illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Witch of Hissing Hill
by Mary Calhoun, illustrated by Janet McCaffery
from William Morrow & Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Wizards and Witches
by Frances Wilkins, illustrated by Fritz Wegner
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)