Kids' books: The joy of sets

The title of this entry comes from a small tag of the same name on a section of shelves at the legendary Bookman's Alley shop owned by Roger Carlson in Evanston, Illinois.  I bought many books from him over the years, including a full set of Goethe.

The topic is again quality children's books available from used bookstores and thrift outlets.  Previous posts in this series covered Grosset & Dunlap and National Geographic.

This week I have a few neat sets of books to share.  Besides the old encyclopedias, publishers used to release comprehensive sets of youth literature and natural science, edited with great care by formal editorial boards.

When you troll the thrift stores like I do, you see sets of Child Craft all the time, but it never much interested me.  The first set that caught my eye was The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls, published by the University Society.

Bookshelf for Boys and Girls

Many Boomers grew up with this and love it; I'm still missing a few volumes from these that I found one day in my local Value Village.

Then one day I got off my bus (the #15), walked into Value Village, and saw this:

The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau

Jackpot!  A 20-volume set of Jacques Cousteau's youth books, examining the natural sciences in depth from an oceanic point of view, in absolutely cherry condition.  Some kid let these sit undisturbed on his shelf for years so that I could have them.

Twenty volumes!

It only gets better.  On a visit to the Goodwill in Shoreline, WA, I found a 1918 pressing of the Collier Junior Classics!  These books are spotless and were practically free.  Can you believe these books are nearly 100 years old?

Collier Junior Classics, 1918 edition

Then, back to Value Village, and another comprehensive set, the 16-volume The Children's Hour, published in 1953.

The Children's Hour

These are such beautiful books, with rich illustrations and high-quality print and finish overall.  Whatever happened to the Spencer Press of Chicago, Illinois?

16 volumes

One more set, a little gem I found at the Mercer Island Thrift Store, just east of Seattle.

Zeks appeal

First editions from the 1970s, with no wear and dust jackets in excellent shape, for $10.  A steal!

A kids' book?  Well how do you discipline your kids?  I tell mine that if they don't behave that the NKVD will sweep them away in the middle of the night to dig the White Sea - Baltic Canal.

That fixes their shit in a hurry.