VTG This Little Piggy And Other Counting Rhymes 1945 A Little Golden Book #12 Phyllis Fraser. Illustrated By Roberta Paflin. HC 1st Ed. 6th Printing 42 Pages. Don’t Usually Sell Books That Are In Acceptable Condition However In Spite Of It’s Condition Issues The Book Structural And Pages Are Still Completely Together. Due To It Being One Of The Original 12 A Collector May Still Like To Add To Their Collection. Front Hard Cover Has Brownish And Soiled Stains. You can See The Impressions A Faded Pen Scribble Impressions. A Portion Of Blue Cloth Binding Missing In Front And No Longer Are Blue But Grayish Looking. Slightly Banged Corners. Backside Also Stained And Soiled. Blue Spine Worn But Faring Better Than The Front As Still Blue. Spine Edge Very Worn. Name Plate Is Blank But Their Is A Dirt Stain On Inside Cover. All Pages Are Pretty Much Whole With A Few Slight Tears. Through Various Pages Have Varying Amounts Of Brown Stains Varying Sizes.

I Wish This Highly Collectible Book Was In Better Shape But What A Cool Part Of The Heritage And aHistory Of The A Little Golden Book Line.

Used. Condition Is “Acceptable”. Review Pictures.

This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes'.. published in 1942... was number 12.. and it was reprinted in 1946.. still as number 12, but with the title 'Counting Rhymes'... Phyllis Fraser is listed as the author. Roberta Paflin illustrated the 1942 edition.. and she's quite prolific, having illustrated a host of other lovely books. The early blue binding that the publishers used until 1947, when they introduced the first version of the gold spine.

Blue cloth backed color pictorial paper covered boards. Orange pictorial paste-on endpapers with the "This book belongs to" box not filled in. The book is a compilation of thirty-seven different counting rhymes that are intended to entertain a young child while teaching them to count. The book is illustrated with both black and white and full color drawings by Paflin, showing all the objects to be counted.

The first 12 little golden books were published in September 1942 and were released to stores the following month. The series was an instant success, and it included titles such as:

Three Little Kittens, by Marie Simchow Stern

Bedtime Stories, illus. Gustaf Tenggren

Mother Goose, by Phyllis Fraser, illus. Gertrude E. Espenscheid

Prayers for Children, by Rachel Taft Dixon

The Little Red Hen, illus. Rudolf Freund

Nursery Songs, by Leah Gale, illus. Corinne Malvern

The Alphabet from A to Z, by Leah Gale, illus. Vivienne Blake and Richard Peck

The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey, illus. Gustaf Tenggren

The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, by Winfield Scott Hoskins

Baby’s Book of Objects

The Animals of Farmer Jones, by Leah Gale, illus. Richard Scarry

This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes, by Phyllis Cerf Wagner, illus. Roberta Harris Pfafflin Petty

In the 75 years since their debut, these Little Golden Books have become a cherished part of childhood for generations of kids. Thanks to their enduring popularity, it’s likely that they will continue to bring joy to young readers for many years to come.

Before the introduction of Little Golden Books in 1942, children's books weren't necessarily made with children's interests in mind. They were usually large volumes that were too difficult for young readers to handle or comprehend, and were awfully expensive at $2 to $3 each (that's about $28 - $42 today). But George Duplaix of the Artist's and Writer's Guild, in partnership with Simon & Schuster Publications and Western Printing, wanted to change all that.

Duplaix thought the solution was small, sturdy, inexpensive books with fewer pages, simpler stories, and more illustrations so little kids could actually enjoy them. Western was already publishing a line for kids called Golden Books, so Duplaix and his team piggy-backed on those marketing efforts, calling the new line Little Golden Books.

The first 12 titles were released on October 1, 1942, at a price of only a quarter a piece. They were an instant success. After only five months on the market, 1.5 million copies had been sold and many titles were already in their third printing; by 1945, most were in their seventh printing. One of the keys to their sales success was the fact that they were available in unusual places, such as department stores, drug stores, and supermarkets. Busy parents could keep rambunctious children occupied while they ran errands, and not feel guilty about the additional 25 cents tacked onto their final bills.

The Little Golden Books' original 12 titles were:

Three Little Kittens Bedtime Stories The Alphabet A - Z Mother Goose Prayers for Children The Little Red Hen Nursery Songs The Poky Little Puppy The Golden Book of Fairy Tales Baby's Book The Animals of Farmer Jones This Little Piggy