Hi,
On a recent visit to a second-hand book sale, I discovered a pair of very unusual children's books from the 1960s. Both have a Lenticular photograph inset in to the cover, and I snapped them up.
These were part of a series of Fairy Tale books published between 1966 and 1968. They are hardbacks, with pages of heavy cardboard.
They are 7 1/3 inches by 10 1/2 inches (185 x 262 mm). The Lenticular picture is glued in to a cut-out in the cover, and is 3 1/2 by just over 5 inches (90 x 130 mm).
The interior illustrations are either black and white line drawings, accompanying the text; or double-page colour photographs, using puppets in miniature settings. Only the front cover illustration is of the Lenticular type.
The books were published by the Golden Press in America, but printed in Japan. The copyright notices are for Froebel-Kan Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan; Printed and bound by Toppan Printing Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan; Pictures copyright 1966 by T. Izawa, S. Hijikata and Shiba Productions.
Early books have Golden Press on the cover, while the later books have A Golden Book instead. My two both have 1966 copyright dates.
Some of the books were printed in more than one edition, and have different cover pictures and illustrations, and different copyright dates. It seems strange that they would re-do the books, rather than simply re-print them, using the original pictures.
There were certainly two editions of The Little Mermaid, and The Emperor's New Clothes, and possibly others. I am not sure if this is a full list of titles, but this is what I have found so far.
At least six titles by Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75) - Thumbelina; The Emperor's New Clothes; The Little Tin Soldier; The Snow Queen; The Wild Swans; and The Little Mermaid.
At least four by Charles Perrault (1628-1703) – Sleeping Beauty; Puss in Boots; Little Red Riding Hood; and Cinderella.
At least two by the Brothers Grimm (Jacob 1785-1863, and Wilhelm 1786-1859) – Snow-White; and Hansel and Gretel.
There was also Goldilocks and the Three Bears, no author credited, just Told by Kathleen Lindquist. This one has Pictures by Rose Art Studio, but it was still printed in Japan.
Rob C has pointed out that the style of the puppets and their settings is very similar to such animated films of the 1960s as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Videocraft International, 1964) and Mad Monster Party (Rankin/Bass Productions, 1967), which were also made in Japan. They also resemble some of the Fairy Tale sets produced for the Viewmaster stereoscopic viewers.
Shiba Productions was founded by Kihachiro Kawamoto (1925-2010) in Japan, in 1958. The company produced book illustrations using puppets, and stop-motion animated films.
There is a Wikipedia page, but it mostly covers the films, rather than the book illustrations. Looks like a very interesting outfit.
I have not come across these Golden Press books before. The Lenticular pictures on the covers are certainly eye catching.
Have you?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
