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Rand McNally published children's books
starting around 1913. Below are several of their books published
in the late 1930s and early 1940s. including # 239, 383, 384.
These books measured 5 x 6 3/4 inches. In 1947, after seeing
the huge success of the Little Golden Books, Rand McNally began the
Elf Books. The elf books were 6 5/8 x 8 3/4 inches, closer
to the size of the Little Golden Books. They also later published
the Junior Elf Books, which were a smaller size similar to the
earlier books, as well as the Tip-Top Elf books and the Start
Right Elf Books.
In assessing my books, I have tried to clarify
when various editions were published. It appears that some of the
early titles from the late 1930s and early 1940s were later
reissued as Junior Elf Books. An example is The Three Wishes, #415
and #8061 below. The first, #415, was published in 1945, before
the Elf Books began., and was 60 pages. The cover reads A Rand
McNally Book. The second, #8061, seems to be essentially the same
book. The copyright is 1945, as the text is the same, except the
font is smaller, and several sentences have been removed in the
interest of length. The illustrations are also the same, although
some have been removed to shorten the book. The resulting book is
28 pages. Also the cover has changed and is labeled a Rand McNally
Junior Elf Book
The cover on the Elf books had an elf in a box in the top left corner.
Introduced in 1959, the Tip-Top Elf books, featured an elf standing on a globe. In 1966, the Start-Right Elf
books had an elf sitting
reading a book in the same corner.
Also, Rand McNally published the original Ding Dong School Books from July 1953 to June, 1956.
After that, they were printed as Golden Books. (See Ding
Dong School Books) In 1986, the Elf line was sold to Macmillan
Publishing.
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