Baby Animal Friends de Phoebe Erickson - 1954

Glossy, decorative hardbound boards with forest animals on the front and the Wonder Book logo on the rear board. Boards are the "washable cover and NEW Long-Life Binding" that are in extremely good condition with no edge wear or damage. There is a small chip and wear at the bottom of the back strip and a tiny bit of wear to the top. All corners are sharp with no wear or bumping. There is a slight slant to the spine but the hinges are solid with no cracking to the decorative endpapers. Binding is tight with all pages firmly attached to the stitching. Slight age tanning throughout as book was printed on matt paper. All internal pages are clean, with no tears, chips, nor any previous owner marks. Unpaginated but approximately 20 pages.

Phoebe Erickson (1907 – 2006) was the twelfth child of Swedish immigrant parents that left her home in North Bay, Wisconsin to pursue a career in writing and illustration where she is best remembered for her accurate depictions of wildlife and the natural world. From 1931 to 1933 she attended the Art Institute of Chicago as a scholarship student where she also worked as a freelance illustrator for greeting card and playing card companies. Her two fawns in a forest playing cards launched her first book in 1948 and she began illustrating children's books full-time after that. In 1937 she had moved to New York to attend Columbia University where she met her future husband trial lawyer Arthur Blair. Unusual for the time she continued to use her maiden name for the entirety of her career. The winner of numerous awards she was also frequently employed as an illustrator for other authors – she regularly collaborated with Thornton Burgess, conservationist, and prolific children's author.