A Lullaby of a Book

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Something that I have wanted to do with Violet Folklore for a long time now is to post about the amazing vintage children's books I find in my thrifting adventures. As an avid reader and someone who always wanted to be a mama, I have been into kid's books and literacy since well before I had Mycelia. In fact, I am embarrassingly proud of the "Bookworm Award" I won at my job at an upper crust Child Development Center back in my college days. The awards were tailored to each individual for one area that they excelled in, and for me my bosses recognized my love and knack for reading to the children.

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And, not surprisingly, I love vintagey, kitschy, and beautifully done children's books best of all. The first book I am going to review for this new series of blogs fulfills another role I greatly appreciate in the books I read to my daughter- it helps her fall asleep :-)

First printed in Germany in 1968, this is the story of Tim and the whimsical thoughts he has while falling asleep at night. From his pets to his toys to the animals in the zoo to the organ grinder with his monkey at the fair to the Sandman himself, Tim's dreamy imagination takes my girl's sleepy little mind on beautifully rendered, fantastical adventures.

Here are the text and illustrations from two of my favorite pages:

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Ah, there is a water fairy hugging her little boat made out of tree bark. She is dreaming about the magic waves she will spread over the lakes and ponds.

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What does a giant use for a bed? Why, the mountains, of course. He is a jolly fellow, but he snores so loudly that he wakes up his children. Never mind, they like to watch the trains chugging through the tunnel.

(Picture me reading that in the softest, sleepiest voice imaginable...)

Words by Christel Sussmann, illustrations by Edith Witt, adapted by Rowan Carr.