Going Barefoot, Adrienne Adams

Today's vintage children's book is Going Barefoot by Aileen Fisher. The illustrator, Adrienne Adams (1906-2002), is new to me and I very much like her work. Her characters are gentle, her illustrations charming and well composed. Adams worked in tempera, gouache, watercolor and crayon.

Wasn't she lovely?

Adrienne Adams grew up in Oklahoma. She moved to New York in 1929 to attend the American School of Design. She then worked in New York as a Free Lance Designer doing displays, textiles, murals and greeting cards and such. In 1935 she married John Anderson, a children's book writer. In 1942 Adams illustrated one of his books, Bag of Smoke and her career in illustrating children's books began. Dean, as she was called by her friends, had a long career as an artist, illustrator and author. She was also a teacher in a rural Oklahoma school. Illustrating over 30 books in her career, she was a runner up for the Caldecott Medal twice. First for Houses from the Sun (1960) and then for The Day We Saw the Sun Come Up (1962). In 1973 she received the Rutgers Award for overall contributions to children’s literature. 

I recently came across Going Barefoot at a Thrift Store. 

Going Barefoot

By Aileen Fisher

Illustrated by Adrienne Adams

Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1960

Other books illustrated by Adrienne Adams:

Butterfly Time, 1964

Cabbage Moon, 1965

Jorinda and Joringel, 1968

Mouse House, 1957

The Christmas Party, 1978

The Easter Egg Artists, 1976

The Rachel Field Story Book, 1958

The River Bank, 1977

The Twelve Dancing Princesses, 1966

Thumbelina, 1961