Although Little Golden Books are often referred to as a “series”, they aren’t really a single series of books. They’re a massive collection of picture books for young children. Most are isolated stories with no connection to each other, and some use characters from other series and franchises.
The collection began with twelve picture books that were published in 1942:
- Three Little Kittens by Marie Simchow Stern
- Bedtime Stories illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
- Mother Goose by Phyllis Fraser, illustrated by Gertrude E. Espenscheid
- Prayers for Children by Rachel Taft Dixon
- The Little Red Hen illustrated by Rudolf Freund
- Nursery Songs by Leah Gale, illustrated by Corinne Malvern
- The Alphabet from A to Z by Leah Gale, illustrated by Vivienne Blake and Richard Peck
- The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
- The Golden Book of Fairy Tales by Winfield Scott Hoskins
- Baby’s Book of Objects
- The Animals of Farmer Jones by Leah Gale, illustrated by Richard Scarry
- This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes by Phyllis Cerf Wagner, illustrated by Roberta Harris Pfafflin Petty
When the first Little Golden Books were published in the early 1940s, one of the outstanding features of the books was the price. They were much cheaper than other children’s books at the time, costing only 25 cents each, compared to the more typical price of $2 or $3 each. The low price better allowed families to provide their young children with inexpensive reading material. Also, the books were purposely sold in grocery stores, five-and-dime stores (the precursor to 21st century dollar stores), and train stations instead of being sold only in bookstores, like other books. The idea was to make the books accessible to parents and children by putting them in places where families were likely to shop, especially for common and inexpensive products, and where adults would be likely to want to purchase something small and cheap to entertain the children. These durable little picture books with the gold foil spines covered in a black floral design remained childhood favorites for young children through the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century.
Today, there are printable activity sheets associated with Little Golden Books.
The list of Little Golden Books below isn’t complete because there are too many Little Golden Books to list easily (this Wiki has the most complete list I’ve seen so far, but not many details about each book), but these are some that I know, including ones I’ve reviewed on this site. To make it easier to find books, I’ve divided up the list into smaller categories with titles listed alphabetically in each category.
Little Golden Books List
Classic Stories
These are shortened, simplified versions of classic books and fairy tales.
Bedtime Stories
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Hansel and Gretel
Heidi
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Little Red Hen
Little Red Riding Hood
Mother Goose
National Velvet
Nursery Songs (1975)
Includes lyrics and music for 14 popular children’s songs.
Peter Rabbit
Puss in Boots
Tarzan
The Three Bears
Three Bedtime Stories (1982)
Three Little Pigs
The Wizard of Oz
Vintage Stories
Some of these stories were also published in other formats before being Little Golden Books.
Animal Daddies and My Daddy
Animal Orchestra
Baby Dear
Baby Listens
The Big Enough Helper (1978)
There are many things little Suzy would like to do to help, but it seems like she’s never big enough to do them.
The Boy with a Drum (1969)
A boy marches down the street, playing with his drum, and it turns into a parade!
Bunnies’ ABC
Cheltenham’s Party
The Circus Is in Town
Daddies
A Day at the Seashore
A Day on the Farm
Doctor Dan: The Bandage Man
Doctor Squash: The Doll Doctor
Duck and His Friends
Four Little Kittens
Four Puppies
Forest Hotel: A Counting Story (1976)
The Friendly Book
By Margaret Wise Brown.
The Fuzzy Duckling
The Golden Egg Book
Good Night, Little Bear
Grandma and Grandpa Smith
The Happy Man and His Dump Truck
Hiram’s Red Shirt
Home for a Bunny
I Can Fly (1950)
A little girl plays and compares her self to various animals.
Jenny’s Surprise Summer
The Jolly Barnyard
Just for Fun
The Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse
The Large and Growly Bear (1961)
A bored bear tries to frighten other animals but ends up frightening himself.
The Little Book (1969)
A rhyming story about things that are little.
Little Cottontail
A small train makes it over a mountain because she thinks she can and is willing to try.
Little PeeWee
Little Pussycat
The Little Red Caboose
The Merry Shipwreck
Mr. Bell’s Fixit Shop
Mister Dog
Mother Goose in the City
My Little Dinosaur (1971)
The New Baby
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Open Up My Suitcase
The Owl and the Pussycat
Pano the Train
Pocketful of Nonsense
Pussy Willow
Rabbit and His Friends
The Rabbit is Next
Rainy Day Play Book
The Saggy Baggy Elephant
The Sailor Dog (1981)
Scuffy the Tugboat
Seven Little Postmen
The Shy Little Kitten
The Sleepy Book
The Store-Bought Doll
Tawny Scrawny Lion (1952)
The tawny scrawny lion can never seem to get enough to eat until the rabbit gives him some wonderful carrot stew.
Tawny Scrawny Lion Saves the Day
Theodore Mouse Goes to Sea
Theodore Mouse Up in the Air
Things I Like
Things in my House
The Three Bears
The Timid Little Kitten
Tootle
The Twins (1973)
About a pair of twin girls and what it’s like to be a twin. By Ruth Shane.
We Help Daddy (1962)
Two small children help their father with yard chores.
We Help Mommy (1959)
Two young children help their mother with household chores. By Jean Cushman, pictures by Eloise Wilkin.
We Like Kindergarten (1965)
A little girl named Carol goes to kindergarten and describes what she does on her first day at school.
What Will I Be?
Where is the Bear?
Where Did the Baby Go?
A little girl finds a picture of a baby and learns that it’s a picture of herself when she was smaller.
Where Will All the Animals Go? (1978)
A boy learns where all the animals on a farm go during a storm.
Wonders of Nature
Biblical and Religious Stories
Bible Heroes
Bible Stories from the Old Testament
Bible Stories of Boys and Girls
A Blessing from Above
David and Goliath (1979)
I Love You, Daddy!
I Love You, Mommy!
Miracles of Jesus
Mr. Noah and His Family
My Little Golden Book About God
The Little Golden Book of Hymns
Noah’s Ark
Prayers for Children (1952)
Stories of Jesus
The Story of Jesus
Where Jesus Lived
Christmas Books
ABC is for Christmas (1975)
The Animals’ Christmas Eve (1978)
Baby’s Christmas
The Biggest, Most Beautiful Christmas Tree (1985)
When the forest animals realize that Santa doesn’t visit because he can’t tell the tree they live in from the others in the forest, they decide to do something about it.
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: A Very Crabby Christmas
The Cat that Climbed the Christmas Tree
The Christmas Bunny
Christmas Carols
The Christmas Donkey
The Christmas Story
The Christmas Tree that Grew
Frosty the Snowman
Jingle Bells
The Little Christmas Elf
The Littlest Christmas Elf
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1991)
My Christmas Treasury (1976)
The Night Before Christmas (1949)
Noel
The Nutcracker
The Poky Little Puppy’s First Christmas
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1976)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again
Santa’s Surprise Book
Santa’s Toy Shop
Tom and Jerry’s Merry Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Disney Books
These books are based on Disney movies and characters.
101 Dalmations
Alice in Wonderland Meets the White Rabbit
Bambi
Bambi: Friends of the Forest
Beauty and the Beast
The Black Cauldron: Taran Makes a Friend
Cinderella
Donald Duck and the One Bear
Donald Duck Instant Millionaire
Dumbo
Favorite Nursery Tales
The Fox and the Hound Hide & Seek
Lady and the Tramp
The Lion King
The Lion King: No Worries
The Little Mermaid
Mickey Mouse and the Best-Neighbor Contest
Mickey Mouse and Goofy: The Big Bear Scare
Mickey Mouse’s Picnic
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1991)
Peter Pan and Wendy
Pete’s Dragon
The Pet Problem
Pinocchio
The Rescuers
A Roaring Adventure
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Three Little Pigs
Tinker Bell
Toad Flies High
Toy Story 3
Sesame Street
The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words
Bert’s Hall of Great Inventions
Big Bird’s Day on the Farm
Big Bird’s Red Book
Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree
Count All the Way to Sesame Street
The Day Snuffy Had the Sniffles
The Four Seasons
Grover’s Own Alphabet
I Think That It Is Wonderful
The Many Faces of Ernie
The Monster at the End of This Book
The Monsters on the Bus
Oscar’s Book
Puppy Love
The Together Book
Looney Tunes
Bugs Bunny and the Health Hog
Bugs Bunny, Marooned
Bugs Bunny, Pioneer (1977)
Bugs Bunny, Too Many Carrots
Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny Just Like Magic
Road Runner and the Very Scary Lesson
Tweety Plays Catch the Puddy Tat
Poky Little Puppy
The Poky Little Puppy (1942)
Little puppies keep disobeying their mother by digging under the fence, and she won’t let them have their dessert until they stop. By Janette Sebring Lowrey.
The Poky Little Puppy’s First Christmas
The Poky Little Puppy Follows His Nose Home (1975)
The Poky Little Puppy and his siblings get lost, but they figure out how to follow their own trail back home. By Adelaide Holl.
The Poky Little Puppy’s Wonderful Winter Day (1982)
The Poky Little Puppy has fun on a snowy day. By Jean Chandler.
The Poky Little Puppy’s Naughty Day (1985)
The Poky Little Puppy is feeling playful and energetic, but when he goes too far, he learns that self-control is also important. By Jean Chandler.
Raggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Rainy Day Circus
Raggedy Ann and Andy: Five Birthday Parties in a Row
Raggedy Ann and Andy: Little Gray Kitten
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh and The Honey Tree
Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger
Winnie-the-Pooh and the Pebble Hunt (1982)
Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet go on a pebble hunt. They lose their pebbles as they go, but it helps them find their way home. A First Little Golden Book.
Winnie-the-Pooh Meets Gopher
Barbie
Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale
Barbie: Mariposa
Barbie: Princess Charm School
Barbie in a Mermaid Tale
Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2
The Missing Wedding Dress featuring Barbie (1986)
Barbie and her sister Skipper are helping a friend get ready for her wedding. Their friend needs some last-minute repairs to her wedding gown, but by mistake the box with her gown is switched with one containing pairs of shoes. Can they manage to track down the wedding gown in time for the wedding?
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: Bamboozled
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: Born to Run
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: The Chocolate Voyage
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: The Thinga-ma-jigger Is Coming Today!
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: A Very Crabby Christmas
Dora the Explorer
The Big Ballet Show
Dora’s Birthday Surprise!
Grandma’s House
SpongeBob SquarePants
Mr. FancyPants
Top of the Class!
Sponge in Space!
Thomas & Friends
Hero of the Rails
King of the Railway
Misty Island Rescue
Other Major Characters
Benji, Fastest Dog in the West (1978)
The Biskitts in Double Trouble (1984)
Bubble Guppies: It’s Time for Bubble Puppy
Cabbage Patch Kids presents Xavier’s Birthday Surprise (1987)
Captain Kangaroo and the Panda
Crispy in the Birthday Band (1987)
Free with Post Crispy Critters Cereal.
Dinosaur Train: Triceratops for Lunch
The Fairy Princess Superstar Barbie (1977)
Howdy Doody’s Animal Friends
Huckleberry Hound Builds a House
Lassie and Her Day in the Sun
Magilla Gorilla
The Pink Panther in the Haunted House
Quints: The Cleanup (1990)
Based on a set of dolls.
Richard Scarry’s Chipmunk’s ABC
Richard Scarry’s Good Night, Little Bear
Rin Tin Tin and the Lost Indian
Shazam! A Circus Adventure (1977)
Tarzan
Team Umizoomi: Purple Monkey Rescue
Tom and Jerry’s Merry Christmas
Woody Woodpecker at the Circus
Nonfiction
ABC Around the House
Animal Quiz Book
Baby Animals
Baby Farm Animals
Birds
Cars
Colors Are Nice
Dinosaurs
Dogs
The Fire Engine Book
Happy Golden ABC
Halloween ABC
Let’s Go, Trucks!
Little Golden ABC
The Little Golden Book of Jokes and Riddles
Little Golden Picture Dictionary
My First Book of the Planets
My First Counting Book
My Home (1976)
A rhyming story about different types of houses and homes, both human and animal.
My Little Golden Dictionary
My Little Golden Word Book
Picture Dictionary
Whales
Words
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 