Western Publishing

 For   a   list   of   Little   Golden   Book s,   see   the   Little Golden Book s  '' category. ''  Western   Publishing  was a large publishing company base d in Racine, Wisconsin , with editorial office s in both New York & Los Angeles. The company no longer exist s. Mattel bought Western in 1982, then sold it off in 1 9 8 4. Under new owner ship, t h e company was re name d Golden Book s Family Entertainment & focused on chil dren ' s book s. Golden Book s Family Entertainment was bought out by Random House  in 2 00 1.

Most peo ple aren ' t familiar with the name Western Publishing, because it published under a number o f different name s. Western ' s publishing line s include d Golden Book s, Whitman Publish in g , & Golden Guide. It also published comic book s, as Dell Comic s , Gold Key Comic s & Whitman Comic s , & produce d a comprehensive line of Golden coloring book s. In the early 1990 s, Golden Book s Family Entertainment also release d a line of CD s & cassette s under the name Golden Music.

Western ' s most famous line, the Little Golden Book s  , began publishing in 1942. Many of the  SESAME  title s have been kept in print in various form s by Random House  & Dalma tian Press.

Little Golden Book s
In 19 42, Western Publishing began its line of Little Golden Book s  , which is still running today under  Random House. Little Golden Book s are 24 - page story book s with large full - color illustration s on each page. The illustration s dominate each page, often including the book ' s text within the artwork. Their dis t i nc t i v e s i z e o f 8 " x 6 ½ " as well as golden spine make Little Golden Book s  instantly recognizable.

The 1 st set of 12 book s, published in October 19 42 , include d T he Poky Little Puppy &  T he   Little   Red   Hen . As of 2005, 15 , 000 , 000 copies of The Poky Little Puppy have been sold.

Western began publishing Little Golden Book s  base d on license d character s in the late 40 s with a line of Walt Disney b oo k s, including Dumbo ,  Uncle   Re mus  &  Peter   &   the   Wolf  in 19 47 , followed b y Snow White , Bambi , Pinocchio &  The 3 Little Pig s in 1948. [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Warner_Bros. Warner Brother s. ] joined the line in 1949 with Bugs Bunny & Bugs Bunny ' s   Treasure   Hunt , followed by Bugs Bunny ' s   Birthday  in 1950.

 SESAME STREET  joined the line in the early 70 s, beginning with The Together Book ( 19 71 ) , The  Monster  at t he End of This Book ( 19 71 ) &  Bert  ' s H all o f Great Invention s ( 1 9 7 2 ) , The  Monster  at the End of This Book was an instant bestseller - - in its 1 st year of publication , the book so ld 2 , 000 , 000 copies. According to a 1973 Chil dren ' s Television Work s hop news letter, " this figure , according t o publishing source s , is an all - time 1 - year sale s record for a single book . "

The  SESAME STREET  line continue d through the 1970 s with  OSCAR  ' s Book  ( 19 75 ),  BIG   BIRD  ' s Red Book ( 1977 ) ,  Cookie   Monster  & the Cookie Tr ee ( 1977 ) &  Grover  ' s Own Alphabet ( 1978 ). The 4 1979 title s - -  Ernie  ' s Work of Art, T h e 4 Season s , T he Many Faces of  Ernie  & ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Amazing_Mumford_Forgets_the_Magic_Words! The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words ! ]'' - - are essentially comic book s, with all of the text appearing in word balloon s.

In his  autobiography The  WISDOM  o f  BIG   BIRD  ( & the Dark  GENIUS  o f  OSCAR   THE   GROUCH  ) : Lessons from a Life in  FEATHERS ,  CAROLL SPINNEY  recalled looking at a Little Golden Book : " Surrounding a list of other  Little Golden Book s  title s was a border fashioned from a curving music al staff . Dancing along with the musical note s were Minnie & Mickey Mouse , Donald & Daisy Duck , Snow White & Dope y , Bugs Bunny & Yosemite Sam - - & BIG BIRD &  OSCAR . These were  my  character s, perfectly cartoon ed , dancing with my  favorite cartoon character s f rom child hood. . . ' My God ! '  I  said. ' I  ' ve gotten up there w it h Bugs Bunny & Mickey Mouse ! ' "

 SESAME STREET  Little Golden Book s  were published continuously through the 1980 s & 1990 s, with at least 1 new title ( & often 2 o r 3 ) published almost every y ear. Title s include d I Think That It Is Wonderful ( 1984 ), The Day  Snuffy  Had the Sniffles ( 1988 ) ,  BIG   BIRD  Visit s Navajo Count ry ( 1 9 9 2 ) ,  To  TRASH  to Treasure  ( 1 9 9 3 ) & Another  Monster  at the End of This Book ( a sequel to the 1 9 7 1 book , featuring Grover & Elmo ) ( 1 99 6 ).

In the mid - 1990 s Little Golden Book s  published a small line of Books Muppet & Muppet Babies books, including ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Kermit,_Save_the_Swamp!  Kermit , Save the Swamp ! ]'' ( 1992 ).  Fozzie  ' s Funnies ( 1993 ),  Baby   Fozzie  Visit s the Doctor ( 1995 ) , Muppet Treasure Is la nd ( 1995 ) ,  Miss   Piggy  , Queen of Heart s ( 1 99 7 ) , H o - Ho - Ho ,  Baby   Fozzie  ( 1997 ) &  Fozzie  ' s Fabulous Easter Parade ( 1998 ). There were also two  BIG  Bag book s - - Chell i & the Great Sand box Adventure ( 1996 ) & Chelli Tell s t he Truth ( 1997 ).

When the Tickle Me  Elmo  doll became the surprise hit of Chris t mas  1996, the  Little Golden Book s  cashed in the following year with a batch o f Elmo title s - - My Name i s  Elmo  , ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Elmo_Loves_You!_(book)  Elmo  Love s You ! ] & The Bunny Hop - - as well as  BIG   BIRD  ' s Ticklish Christ mas''. In another 1997 book, Golden Book s  combine d 2 of their publishing power house s in The Poky Little Puppy Comes to  SESAME   STREET .

The last  SESAME STREET  Little Golden Book s  - -  BIG   BIRD  ' s  Baby  Book,  Elmo  ' s New Puppy ,  Elmo  ' s Tricky Tongue Twisters & 1 st Step s - - were published i n 1 99 8.

Many of the  SESAME  Little Golden Book s  have remained in print in various form s. Random House reprinted several title s under the " Jelly bean Book s " imprint in 1 999, & Dalma tian Press has reprinted some as board book s & paper back s. 1 popular title, 1997 ' s ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Elmo_Loves_You!_(book)  Elmo  Love s You ! ]'', was reprinted by Random House in 2000 as a Jelly bean Book s , & in 2002 as a board book , then by Dalma tian Press as a shape d board book in 2005 & a paper back in 2008.

In 2001, to celebrate the upcoming 60th anniversary of the 1 st Little Golden Book s , Random House  began publishing a line of Little Golden Book s Classic s , beginning with reprint s of 6 book s. The  Monster  at the End of This Book  was reissue d as a Big Little Golden Book in 2004, & Another  Monster  at the End of This Book  will join the Little Golden Book s Classic s line in August 2 00 9.

Whitman Tell - A - Tale Book s
Another of Western ' s book line s was t he Whitman Tell - A - Tale Book s , which were published from 1945 to 1980. Tell - A -Tale B o ok s were 6 ¼ " by 5 ½ ", smaller than Little Golden Book s , with thicker cover s. The illustration s in these book s were even more dominant - - the cover art extend s all the way around to the back cover, & the art on the inside cover s blend s into t he 1 s t & last page s. Tell - A - Tale Book s were 28 page s long, slightly longer than Little Golden Book s.

The 1 s t  SESAME STREET  Tell - A - Tale Book,  Sherlock   Hemlock  & the Great Twiddlebug Mystery , was published in 1 9 7 2. It was written by Revena Dwight & illustrated by Roger Bradfield, the same team who had produce d the 1 s t  SESAME  Little Golden Book , T he Together Book. Sherlock Hemlock also starred in t he next Tell - A - Tale Book, The Invention of Paper ( 1975 ) , which was based on the recurring  SESAME STREET  sketches with Ernie as a Ernie Caveman King.

The 3 r d Tell - A - Tale Book, How to Be a  GROUCH  ( 1976 ) , was  Muppeteer   CAROLL SPINNEY  ' s only children ' s book. The book offers a comprehensive look at  SPINNEY  ' s view s o n the character , including a page called " Learn To Be Miserable " : " Getting new  TRASH  make s  me  happy , b ut  I   DON ' t  like being happy ! Being happy make s  me  miserable , &  I  love being miserable ! So that make s  me  happy - - which make s  me   miserable !  "

Other Whitman T ell - A - Tale title s include d :  The   Count  ' s Poem ( 1978 ), &  Ernie  ' s Tele phone C a ll ( 1978 ) , &  Grover  ' s Own Alphabet ( 1978 ) , & The Up & Down Book ( 1 9 7 9 ).

Golden Tell - A - Tale Book s
In 1980, Western Publishing started another boo k line , Golden Tell - A - Tale Book s , which would replace the Whitman book s That year , ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Monsters_Come_in_Many_Colors! M o n s t e r s Come in Many C o l o r s ! ]'' was published in both the Whitman Tell - A - Tale & Golden T ell - A - Tale Book line s.  BIG   BIRD  Follow s the Sign s was another 1980 Golden T ell - A - Tale title, followed by 1 st Time s &  SESAME   STREET  ABC in 1983.

1 st Little Golden Book s
The Tell - A - Tale line made another transition starting in 1983, with the introduction of the 1 st Little Golden Book s. These book s w e r e 6 " b y 5 ½ " ( slightly smaller than t he Tell - A - Tale Book s ) & they were 24 page s long. They also had the Little Golden Book s gold spine, which made the connection between the smaller & larger book s more recognizable.

A few of the Tell - A - Tale Book s were reprinted under the 1 st Little Golden Book s imprint, including  The   Count  ' s Poem & 1 st Time s.

The  SESAME  st Little Golden Book s also include d : I Can Dress Myself ( 1983 ),  Count  to 10 ( 1986 ) ,  BIG   BIRD  ' s Busy Day ( 1987 ) , Alice ' s 1 st Word s ( 1989 ) , ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Shake_a_Leg! Shake a Leg ! ] ( 1991 ),  Grover  ' s  Mommy  ( 1994 ) , & Natasha ' s Daddy'' ( 1994 ).

The line also include d 1 Muppet book, Sweet & Silly Muppet Poem s ( 1992 ) , & 2 Muppet Babies title s : ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Babies,_Be_Nice! Muppet Babies, Be Nice ! ] ( 1993 ) & [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Let's_Play_Peek-A-Boo! Let ' s P l ay P e ek - A - B oo ! ]'' ( 1996 ).

The last  SESAME  1 st Little Golden Book was [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Elmo_Says...  Elmo  Says. . . ] ( 1998 ).

Golden Book Video
A collection of video s known as  Golden   Book   Video  presented limit ed partial - animation adaptation s of Golden Book title s. Illustration s from the book s were displayed, accompanied by a full voice cast , & with stylize d , limited animation effect s. Quite a few  SESAME STREET  book s were adapted for these video s in 1985, release d as 3  SESAME   STREET  Stories & 5  SESAME   STREET  Stories. Both video s were later combine d into 8 Super  SESAME   STREET  Stories in 1990.

The video s were not officially Chil dren ' s Television Work shop or T h e  JIM HENSON  Company production s, but were mentioned in the copyright notice s , & Emily Perl Kingsley  was involve d with the adaptation of the book s. The only Muppet performer s heard were  FRANK OZ ,  CAROLL SPINNEY  ,  RICHARD HUNT  &  FRAN BRILL . Other main Muppet character s were usually characterize d by the narrator describing their dialogue. The huma n cas t mem ber s were rename d for the video s & voice d by 1 of the above performer s ( for example, Maria was rename d Dolores & voiced by  FRAN BRILL  ). Occasionally a some what minor Muppet character would be recast ( for example,  SLIMEY  was voiced by a different actor & rename d "  SQUIGGLY  " &  FRAN BRILL  voice d Rodeo Rosie ). Unlike other  SESAME  video s or even book - & - audio set s, the usual  SESAME STREET  back ground music cue s by  Joe Raposo  were not use d. Instead, stock track s from the Associate d Production Music library were utilize d. None of the distinctive  SESAME STREET  song s were feature d, either.

Other Western Publishing product s
In 1981, Western release d several  SESAME STREET  activity set s featuring Put & Play reusable vinyl adhesive play piece s. These include d book s with a rear storage flap for piece s, laminate d board s , bagged fold - out scenery board s , Put & Play Space Puppet s with mix & match clothing , & t h e board game s Put & Play Match - A - Color Game & Match - A - Shape Game. The Put & Play product line also included Walt Disney & other favorite subject s.

I n 1 9 8 2, t h e company a l s o release d t h e You ' re a  GROUCH  !  card game.

External l i n k s

 * Official Little Golden Book s web site
 * Collect in g Little Golden Book s

S e e a l s o

 * Western Publishing on the Muppet Wiki
 * Western Publishing on the  OSCAR   THE   GROUCH  Wiki