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Eloise Wilkin - Little Golden Book Illustrator

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ELOISE WILKIN - Little Golden Books Illustrator

 

Eloise Wilkin (1904–1987) illustrated dozens of classic Golden Books in her long career. Famous for her instantly recognizable style, she provided the art for such books as Baby Dear, We Help Mommy, and the original Little Golden Book versions of Prayers for Children and My Little Golden Book About God.

Eloise Wilkin's career covered more than fifty years, involving illustration and writing, free-lance drawing, and doll design. After graduating from The Rochester Institute of Technology, Eloise Burns and her friend Joan Esley moved to New York City where they hoped to have a better chance at careers in illustration. In 1935, Eloise married Sydney Wilkin and soon began a family of four children. She illustrated over 20 books with her sister Esther, who also married a Wilkin. In 1943, she was offered a contract with Simon & Schuster and worked almost exclusively for Little Golden Books until 1961.

Wilkin won several awards for her writings and illustrations including the Ewald Eisenhardt Memorial Merit Award for excellence in printmaking for her lithograph "Lilybet." Two books which she illustrated, The Boy With a Drum (1971) by David L. Harrison and I Hear: Sounds In a Child's World (1971) by Lucille Ogle and Tina Thoburn, were each named children's book of the year by the Child Study Association of America. She also received honorable mention in l940 from the New York Times Book Review for her illustrations for A Good House for a Mouse written by Irmengarde Eberle, 1940, and in 1950 for The Tune is in the Tree written by Maud Hart Lovelace.

Eloise Wilkin was also known for designing dolls and doll houses. In the 1960s she successfully marketed a new-born infant doll called "Baby Dear." Reportedly, former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev returned home with several of the dolls after a trip to a toy store in New York City.

While studying art at Mechanics Institute (now Rochester Institute of Technology), Wilkin met Joan Esley, best known as an illustrator of several books for adolescents. They formed a lifelong friendship that included collaboration on The Visit. Eloise Wilkin died October 4, 1987 in Rochester, New York.

Eloise was a women that stood up for her beliefs, whether it was refusing to paint pants on a woman or marching with Martin Luther King or assisting a college student in the burning of his draft card.

On October 4, 1987, Eloise died of cancer, at Genesee Hospital in Brighton, New York. At the time of her death at 84, she was working on a new doll and was still illustrating.

With around 100 books illustrated, she will be remembered as one of the top children's illustrators of the 20th century.

 

LITTLE GOLDEN BOOKS BIBLIOGRAPHY

All books written and illustrated by Eloise Wilkin unless otherwise noted.
* designates a title still in print

Baby Dear. by Esther Wilkin, 1962. LGB# 466
Baby Jesus: Stamp Book. 1957. LGB# A12
Baby Listens. by Esther Wilkin, 1960. LGB# 383
Baby Looks. 1960. LGB# 404
Baby's Birthday. by Patricia Mowers, 1972. LGB# 365
Baby's First Christmas. by Esther Wilkin, 1959. LGB# 368 and 460-08
Birds. by Jane Werner Watson, 1958, 1973. LGB# 184 and LGB# 5011
Boy With a Drum. by David L. Harrison, 1969. LGB# 588
Busy Timmy. by Kathryn and Byron Jackson, 1948. LGB# 50 and 452
Child's Garden of Verses. by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1957. LGB# 289 and 493
Christmas ABC. by Florence Johnson, 1962. LGB# 478
Christmas Story. by Jane Werner, 1952. LGB# 158
Come Play House. by Edith Oswald, 1948. LGB# 44
Day at the Playground. by Miram Schlein, 1951. LGB# 119
*Eloise Wilkin's Mother Goose. 1961. LGB# 589
First Bible Stories. by Jane Werner, 1954. LGB# 198
Fix It Please. by Lucy Sprague Mitchell, 1947. LGB# 32
Georgie Finds a Grandpa. by Miriam Young, 1954. LGB# 196
Good Little Bad Little Girl. by Esther Wilkin, 1965. LGB# 562
Good Morning, Good Night. by Jane Werner, 1948. LGB# 61
Guess Who Lives Here. by Louise Woodcock, 1949. LGB# 60
Hansel and Gretel. by Brothers Grimm, 1954. LGB# 217, 491, 207-51, and 207-65
Hi! Ho! Three in a Row. by Louise Woodcock, 1954. LGB# 188
Jamie Looks. by Adelaide Holl, 1963. LGB# 522
Kittens: Three Complete Stories. by Cathleen Schurr and Patricia Scarry. Illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren and Eloise Wilkin. 1958. Giant LGB# 5013
Linda and Her Little Sister. by Esther Wilkin, 1954. LGB# 214
Little Book. by Sherl Horvath, 1969. LGB# 583
Little Golden Book of Holidays. by Marion Conger, 1951. LGB# 109
My Baby Brother. by Patricia Scarry, 1956. LGB# 279
My Dolly and Me. by Patsy Scarry, 1960. LGB# 418
My Kitten. by Patsy Scarry, 1954. LGB# 163, 300, and 528
*My Little Golden Book About God. by Jane Werner Watson, 1956. LGB# 268
My Pets. by Patsy Scarry, 1959. LGB# 5027
My Puppy. by Patsy Scarry, 1955. LGB# 233 and 469
My Snuggle Bunny. by Patsy Scarry, 1956. LGB# 250
My Teddy Bear. by Patricia Scarry, 1953. LGB# 168 and 448
New Baby. by Ruth and Harold Shane, 1948. LGB# 41, 291, 541 and 306-68
New House in the Forest. by Lucy Sprague Mitchell, 1946. LGB# 24
Night Before Christmas. by Jane Werner Watson, 1955. LGB# 241
Noises and Mr. Flibberty-Jib. 1947. LGB# 29
Play with Me. by Esther Wilkin, 1967. LGB# 567
*Prayers for Children. 1952. LGB# 5, 205, 301-10 and 301-93
So Big. 1968. LGB# 574
This World of Ours. by Jane Werner Watson, 1959. LGB# 5026
Twins. by Ruth and Harold Shane, 1955. LGB# 227
We Help Daddy. by Mini Stein, 1962. LGB# 468 and 305-51
We Help Mommy. by Jean Cushman, 1959. LGB# 352
We Like Kindergarten. by Clara Cassidy, 1965. LGB# 552
Where Did the Baby Go? by Shiela Hayes, 1974. LGB# 116
Wiggles. by Louise Woodcock, 1953. LGB# 166
Wonders of Nature. by Jane Werner Watson, 1957. LGB# 293

 

ELOISE WILKIN - Little Golden Books Illustrator

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