Little Golden Books was originated from Edward Henry Wadewitz , the 30 year old son of German immigrants, settle up in USA . He started his work at Western Publishing Company. Later he set up West Side Printing Company on his own and start publishing Little Golden Books on September, 1942. Initially, they published 12 different, 24-page books as follows.
The Poky Little Puppy
The Little Red Hen
Three Little Kittens
The Golden Book of Fairy Tales
Bedtime Stories
The Alphabet A-Z
The Animals of Farmer Jones
Baby's Book
Mother Goose
Nursery Songs
Prayers for Children
This Little Piggy
First, the book cover art varied, all the books were the same size, hardbound, delightfully illustrated, and sold in bookstores, department stores and other chains at a price of 25 cents each. Even though World War II was on and paper shortages loomed. But 5 months after the launch, 1.5 million copies had been printed. Leading to success of the other publications.
In 1952. Little Golden Books celebrated its 10th anniversary. Almost 183 million books had been sold, with The Night Before Christmas alone selling over 4 million copies.
In 1954, Little Golden Books were available throughout most of the world, except the Soviet Union
Up till now, over 2 billion Little Golden Books have reached the hands of children all over the world. Especially The poky little puppy , the best-selling Little Golden Books of all, had sold over 15 million copies worldwide, in many different languages. Then the other books of Little Golden Books were well-know. There are hundreds of different Little Golden Books that have captured the hearts of everyone. Many famous writers and illustrators joined to created more color to Little Golden Books.
