Some facts for you: everyone loves children’s books, and everyone loves vintage book covers, and everyone loves books from far-flung lands. So why not amuse yourself this Friday by looking at a collection of lovely children’s books from decades past and from authors both foreign and domestic? After the jump, find a modest collection of particularly beautiful vintage children’s books — just 20 out of the hundreds that are out there — and for the good of everyone’s eyeballs, please add links to your own favorites in the comments.
A Little Princess, 1919 [Image via]
Russian children’s book Station ‘Moon’, 1963 [Image via]
The Water Babies, 1910 [Image via]
Korean children’s book The Village with a Zelkova Tree, 1966, illustrations by Yi Ju-hun [Image via]
A Child’s Book of Warriors, 1907 [Image via]
Estonian children’s book Kärp, 1981, illustrated by Ene Pikk [Image via]
The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts, 1927 [Image via]
Polish children’s book Pan Twardowski [Image via]
Lithuanian children’s book The Liberator of the Sun, 1959 [Image via]
British edition of The Secret Garden [Image via]
Dutch children’s book Valeriane Goes to Sea [Image via]
Blast Off, 1973 [Image via]
Polish children’s book Ambaje, illustrated by Jan Marcin Szancer, 1967 [Image via]
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, 1884 [Image via]
Czech children’s book Button Tales, illustrated by Eva Bednářová, 1974 [Image via]
Nursery Songs, UK [Image via]
French children’s book April’s Fish, 1936 [Image via]
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood [Image via]
Korean children’s book A Child From a Mountain Village, 1965, cover by Baek Yeong-su [Image via]
Japanese children’s book [Image via]