We’ve been publishing books since 1919, which means we have one heck of an archive. Every Friday we highlight one of our more unusual, beautiful, or hilarious titles unearthed from the storage bins.
It’s that time of summer when gardens and backyards are wonderfully lush and overgrown, so it’s high time we show off the jungly, exuberant art of Don Madden in his 1966 book, Lemonade Serenade, Or the THING in the Garden.
(In case you’re wondering, the THING in the garden is an elf playing a tuba made from a bathtub, an old rowboat, and a funnel. Ah, the 60s.)
Madden is a favorite with children’s book collectors and design/illustration enthusiasts. You might know his work from the Let’s Read and Find Out books of the late 60s and early 70s. Click on the illustration below to get the full (and fully groovy) effect:
Is he having lemonade with Carol Channing from Hello, Dolly?
Reminds me of the illustrations for The Borrowers by Mary Norton, one of my favorites as a child.
Delightful!