Wednesday 7 June 2017

Puffin Books - part 1

Four years after Penguin Books had been founded by Sir Allen Lane, the idea for Puffin Books was hatched in 1939 when Noel Carrington, at the time an editor for Country Life books, met him and proposed a series of children's non-fiction picture books, inspired by the brightly coloured lithographed books mass-produced at the time for Soviet children. Lane saw the potential, and the first of the picture book series were published the following year. The name "Puffin" was a natural companion to the existing "Penguin" and "Pelican" books. Many continued to be reprinted right into the 1970s. A fiction list soon followed, when Puffin secured the paperback rights to Barbara Euphan Todd’s 1936 story Worzel Gummidge and brought it out as the first Puffin story book in 1941.


Many well-known illustrators and artists illustrated covers for Puffins - Charles Tunniliffe, Ronald Searle, and Edward Ardizzone amongst others.

This is part 1 of a 3 - part post on Puffin Books:


1940 Puffin Picture Book No. 1
War on Land
illustrated by James Holland

1940 Puffin Picture Book No. 2
War at Sea
illustrated by James Holland

1940 Puffin Picture Book No. 3
War in the Air
illustrated by James Gardner

1940 Puffin Picture Book No. 4
On the Farm
illustrated by James Gardner

1941 Puffin Picture Book No. 6
Flowers of Field and Hedgerow and their Garden Cousins
illustrated by Marion Rivers-Moore

1941 Puffin Picture Book
A Book of Trains
illustrated by F.E. Courtney

1941 Puffin Picture Book No. 8
Great Deeds of the War
illustrated by Roland Davies

1941 Puffin Story Book
Worzel Gummidge "The Scarecrow of Scatterbrook"
illustrated by Elizabeth Alldridge

1942 Puffin Picture Book No. 16
Village and Town
illustrated by S. R. Badman

1942 Puffin Picture Book No. 16 
Village and Town 
illustrated by S. R. Badman

1942 Puffin Picture Book No.26
Orlando's Home Life
illustrated by Kathleen Hale

1943 Puffin Picture Books No.30
Pantomime Stories
illustrated by Hilary Stebbing

1944 ( published 1946 ) Palaces on Monday
cover by Arthur H. Hall

1944 Gay-neck
cover by Arthur H. Hall

1944 My Friend Mr. Leakey
cover by John Harwood

1944 Puffin Picture Book No. 14
Orlando's Evening Out
illustrated by Kathleen Hale

1944 Puffin Picture Book No. 37
A History of the Countryside by Margaret and Alexander Potter
front cover

1944 Puffin Picture Book No. 37 
A History of the Countryside by Margaret and Alexander Potter
back cover

1945 Jehan of the Ready Fists
cover by Arthur H. Hall

1945 Puffin Picture Books No.12
A Book of Rigmaroles or Jingle Rhymes
illustrated by Enid Marx

1945 Puffin Picture Books No.40
Make Your Own Zoo, Part One
illustrated by Trix
front cover

1945 Puffin Picture Books No.40 
Make Your Own Zoo, Part One 
illustrated by Trix
back cover

1946 ( published 1947 ) The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawn
illustrated by W. Heath Robinson
front cover

1946 ( published 1947 ) The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawn 
illustrated by W. Heath Robinson
back cover

1946 David Goes to Zululand
cover by Gwen White


1946 Kidnapped
cover by Lake

1946 North After Seals

1946 Puffin Picture Book No.38
About a Motor Car
illustrated by Phyllis Ladyman
front cover

1946 Puffin Picture Book No.38 
About a Motor Car 
illustrated by Phyllis Ladyman
back cover

1946 Puffin Picture Book No.58
The Story of Plant Life
illustrated by Isabel Alexander

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton
front cover

1946 Puffin Picture Books
The Tale of Noah and the Flood
illustrated by Clarke Hutton
back cover

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

1946 Puffin Picture Books 
The Tale of Noah and the Flood 
illustrated by Clarke Hutton

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