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Everything I Need To Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book
Everything I Need To Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book
A humorous "guide to life" for grown-ups! One day, Diane Muldrow, a longtime editor of the iconic Little Golden Books, realized that, despite their whimsical appearance, there was hardly a real-life situation that hadn't been covered in the more than 70-year-old line of children's books—from managing money, to the importance of exercise, to finding contentment in the simplest things. In this age of debt, depression, and diabetes, could we adults use a refresher course in the gentle lessons from these adorable books, she wondered—a "Little Golden guide to life"? Yes, we could! Muldrow's humorous yet practical tips for getting the most out of life ("Don't forget to enjoy your wedding!" "Be a hugger." "Sweatpants are bad for morale."), drawn from more than 60 stories, are paired with delightful images from these best-loved children's books of all time—among them The Poky Little Puppy, Pantaloon, Mister Dog, Nurse Nancy, We Help Mommy, Five Pennies to Spend, and The Little Red Hen. The Golden greats of children's illustration are represented here as well: Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, Eloise Wilkin, J. P. Miller, and Mary Blair, among many others. Sure to bring memories and a smile, this book is a perfect gift for baby boomers, recent grads, lovers of children's literature—or anyone who cherishes the sturdy little books with the shiny cardboard covers and gold foil spines!
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
50 people are currently reading
3347 people want to read
About the author
Diane Muldrow
138 books86 followersDiane Muldrow grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She later attended Ohio University, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Magazine Journalism and a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts: Dance. After her graduation, Diane moved to New York. She spent several years performing as an actress and dancer in New York’s downtown avant-garde performance scene. She also danced in a performance at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and had her own one-woman shows.
Diane has also had a successful career in publishing, both as an editor and as an author. She has written over 100 books for children. Diane lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she enjoys trying new recipes and eating in local restaurants.
Diane has also had a successful career in publishing, both as an editor and as an author. She has written over 100 books for children. Diane lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she enjoys trying new recipes and eating in local restaurants.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 772 reviews
October 27, 2015
I received access to a digital edition of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I had high hopes for this book, I really did. I grew up on Little Golden Books and loved them. I do not know what happened, but I did not get the version of this book that is described here. My book was twelve pages long and sounded complete. But the inside did not in any way match the cover. It is not in the slightest bit humorous as mentioned in the description here on Goodreads.
The cover is a campy image of a woman in fifty’s dress holding the Pokey Little Puppy. The back cover says, “Muldrow’s humorous yet practical tips for getting the most out of life—Don’t forget to enjoy your wedding! Be a hugger! Sweatpants are bad for morale!’’ are paired with delightful images from the best-loved children’s books of all time. Not one of those sayings is in the book. I was picturing a campy look back at the wonderful books the company has published over the years and that is not at all what this book is.
In the book, pictures from popular Golden Books throughout the years are accompanied by quick life lessons such as “Believe in Santa Claus” with a picture from “The Night Before Christmas” (a book that I still have somewhere). Another is “Play hard,” accompanied by a picture from the classic Mister Dog.
I loved seeing the old illustrations, and I liked that on each page, the book from which the illustration was taken is clearly noted. But the book is very short. I think the intent is to make it a Little Golden Book itself, with the same number of pages and same format. But somehow it just didn’t work for me. Maybe that in this context, the number of pages is ridiculously short (twelve in all) which is so much thinner than the sturdy cardboard covers that usually surround these stories.
I just wish there were more books whose illustrations were presented. Two of the pages were full spreads and that could have been changed to allow too more stories to be represented. I also felt the life lessons were way too simple. The story itself consists of a total of 48 words. That’s four words per page. Here is the complete text:
See? That sounds complete to me and nothing like the back cover.
I’m not sure who the audience is, either. The illustrations are mismatched and old fashioned, of course, and the words a bit too complicated with adult concepts to have more than a limited child audience. (The introduction was the most interesting part of the whole thing.)
If the book had been what it is described as on the covers, I would have loved it. Perhaps they wrote two different books and confused them. As it is, the only value was seeing a few familiar images and enjoying the nostalgia they evoked. At $9.99, this isn’t worth the money.
I had high hopes for this book, I really did. I grew up on Little Golden Books and loved them. I do not know what happened, but I did not get the version of this book that is described here. My book was twelve pages long and sounded complete. But the inside did not in any way match the cover. It is not in the slightest bit humorous as mentioned in the description here on Goodreads.
The cover is a campy image of a woman in fifty’s dress holding the Pokey Little Puppy. The back cover says, “Muldrow’s humorous yet practical tips for getting the most out of life—Don’t forget to enjoy your wedding! Be a hugger! Sweatpants are bad for morale!’’ are paired with delightful images from the best-loved children’s books of all time. Not one of those sayings is in the book. I was picturing a campy look back at the wonderful books the company has published over the years and that is not at all what this book is.
In the book, pictures from popular Golden Books throughout the years are accompanied by quick life lessons such as “Believe in Santa Claus” with a picture from “The Night Before Christmas” (a book that I still have somewhere). Another is “Play hard,” accompanied by a picture from the classic Mister Dog.
I loved seeing the old illustrations, and I liked that on each page, the book from which the illustration was taken is clearly noted. But the book is very short. I think the intent is to make it a Little Golden Book itself, with the same number of pages and same format. But somehow it just didn’t work for me. Maybe that in this context, the number of pages is ridiculously short (twelve in all) which is so much thinner than the sturdy cardboard covers that usually surround these stories.
I just wish there were more books whose illustrations were presented. Two of the pages were full spreads and that could have been changed to allow too more stories to be represented. I also felt the life lessons were way too simple. The story itself consists of a total of 48 words. That’s four words per page. Here is the complete text:
"Is your life starting to feel like a circus?
Don't panic...
Today's a new day.
Frolic.
Daydream.
Work hard.
Play hard.
Believe in Santa Claus...
love at first sight...
and that your ship will come in. As long as you do, your life is bound to be Golden!"
See? That sounds complete to me and nothing like the back cover.
I’m not sure who the audience is, either. The illustrations are mismatched and old fashioned, of course, and the words a bit too complicated with adult concepts to have more than a limited child audience. (The introduction was the most interesting part of the whole thing.)
If the book had been what it is described as on the covers, I would have loved it. Perhaps they wrote two different books and confused them. As it is, the only value was seeing a few familiar images and enjoying the nostalgia they evoked. At $9.99, this isn’t worth the money.
November 20, 2018
Cute, but nothing to write home about
October 27, 2013
Hmmm, some how I expected something more substantial than this cutesy 5 minute read aimed at nostalgic adults. As with the original Little Golden Books, much of the charm lies in the illustrations and here you will see a who's who of their great illustrators- Tibor Gergely, J.P. Miller, Alice and Martin Provensen, Garth Williams, Richard Scarry and others. But overlaid on these fabulous vintage illustrations pulled from a variety of Golden Book titles are silly little grains of advice such as, "Frolic," "Daydream," "Have some pancakes."
Not that I have anything against frolicing, daydreaming or pancake eating. Those are all lovely things to do, but I have never needed a reminder on those sorts of matters. Have you ever come to the realization that what you really needed to do to enjoy life is eat more pancakes?
If you are searching for a gift for a nostalgic adult in your life, you'd be better off buying them a few older Little Golden Books than laying this thing on them. My vote is for 'The Wonderful House' by Margaret Wise Brown.
If you do have someone in your life with "Just Breathe" stenciled somewhere in their house or stamped on an item of jewelry, please go ahead and buy them this book. They will think it is great.
Not that I have anything against frolicing, daydreaming or pancake eating. Those are all lovely things to do, but I have never needed a reminder on those sorts of matters. Have you ever come to the realization that what you really needed to do to enjoy life is eat more pancakes?
If you are searching for a gift for a nostalgic adult in your life, you'd be better off buying them a few older Little Golden Books than laying this thing on them. My vote is for 'The Wonderful House' by Margaret Wise Brown.
If you do have someone in your life with "Just Breathe" stenciled somewhere in their house or stamped on an item of jewelry, please go ahead and buy them this book. They will think it is great.
August 12, 2016
A book with a little wisdom and a whole lot of memories of books from my childhood. Illustrations are taken from a variety of classic Little Golden Books; some were ones I'd completely forgotten about and others were old and dear friends. What a lovely walk down memory lane!
October 14, 2015
Lovely little small coffee-table type book, full of nostalgic illustrations (from past books) and one-sentence words of advice.
September 11, 2014
Although the copy I received is cataloged as a children's book, I have seen this sold in the adult section of book stores. It is mostly pictures -- most of which will be familiar to you if you have read Little Golden Books, although there are some I have never seen before. Also the titles listed with some of the pictures don't seem to be in harmony with the "meanings" given in this book. Oh well, I read it and it was a book.
August 30, 2018
An adorable gift book that took me down memory lane. Short and sweet, full of nostalgia with wonderful reminders of the simple things in life. I grew up with these books all over my house. I loved seeing pages from some of my favorite books and now want to read them again to my children. This would make an adorable gift, especially to someone who read these lovely golden and adorable books as a young child.
December 16, 2015
So cute!
May 8, 2019
A fun guide to life using wonderful illustrations from vintage Little Golden Books.
Cute to look through, but once was enough.
Cute to look through, but once was enough.
October 27, 2013
Lately, I've been building up my almost-five-year-old son's library of Little Golden Books. I had quite a collection when I was a child, but somewhere in the many moves of my childhood, my books were lost. Diane Muldrow's book could not have come out at a better time for me. I was thrilled to see that we already have the five LGBs featured in her foreword. I knew then that we were on the right track.
In Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book, Diane Muldrow took illustrations from classic LGBs and linked them together with some basic and good advice for life. Some of the advice is obvious, but that makes it no less sound: For example "Don't forget to enjoy your wedding". I can't count the number of recent weddings that I've attended where the bride looked like she forgot to have fun. And "Let your children know you love them". Actually, I think that is the best advice in the book.
The artwork is phenomenal -- the best of the best in vintage Little Golden Book illustrations. I am happy to say that we own at least half of the books featured, and now I know which ones I need to replace.
In Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book, Diane Muldrow took illustrations from classic LGBs and linked them together with some basic and good advice for life. Some of the advice is obvious, but that makes it no less sound: For example "Don't forget to enjoy your wedding". I can't count the number of recent weddings that I've attended where the bride looked like she forgot to have fun. And "Let your children know you love them". Actually, I think that is the best advice in the book.
The artwork is phenomenal -- the best of the best in vintage Little Golden Book illustrations. I am happy to say that we own at least half of the books featured, and now I know which ones I need to replace.
June 24, 2021
This is the first book in Muldrow’s series - Evwrything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book. Perfect nostalgia for the little children’s books I grew up with - learning to read and reading them when I was a babysitter or when my daughter was little. This is a cute little book about how to live your life. Some great lines include remembering to put on real pants (“sweatpants are bad for morale”), make new friends, learn new things, take a mental health day, get plenty of sleep, have a good cry. It really is a cute little book!
April 5, 2015
Cute concept. Definitely would be more appreciated by those raised on the Little Golden Books. The illustrations were very fun to look at. However this wasn't anything that exciting. It seems like it didn't take much thought at all and was composed in about 15 minutes. It was just okay...I was definitely expecting more.
July 22, 2014
As a kid my grandma always bought my Little Golden books and this just made me think of her so I had to read it. It was like a trip down memory lane seeing all the characters I loved in all my childhood books. I loved it!
September 14, 2014
What fun! Being a baby boomer, there is more than a little nostalgia here: these are the books of my youth, after all. Still, the messages are timeless. I had a lot of fun revisiting those sweet characters and had forgotten just how wise they were.
February 28, 2014
Cute little book filled with large wisdom. Everyone needs to remember the little life lessons presented in the Golden Books.
March 6, 2014
Cute, animated guidance! I like the advice "be a hugger," "stay curious," and "turn off the TV from to time to and crack open a book!"
March 11, 2014
This is great. And so true. I still learn from Little Golden Books.
March 12, 2014
Read this book for some life advice paired with nostalgia and a sprinkle of warm fuzzies!
March 26, 2014
A friend gave this to me when I was in need. It was the perfect nostalgic pick me up, I loved it! brought back some memories. :)
October 10, 2014
It is an adorable little book. Put a smile on your face kind of read. Don't we all need that sometime?
March 27, 2022
So endearing!
June 16, 2018
This book brought back many childhood memories. In the summer when I got to go shopping with my mother there were almost always Little Golden Books on the rack where you check out. Being the book lover I was, I would always ask "Can you buy one of these?" Many times the answer was yes and I had quite a collection.
As you read through this book, it will remind you of values that you may now have that were first introduced in a Little Golden book. It's fun to see the illustrations too.
As you read through this book, it will remind you of values that you may now have that were first introduced in a Little Golden book. It's fun to see the illustrations too.
December 23, 2013
I recieved this as a Christmas gift from one of our parishioners. I was really excited to read it and thought it would be fabulous when I read the first page. Which was kind of an inside joke for all that's happened in the last several months. I have to admit although the concept is good I just don't think the follow through was. I still love my Golden books though!
February 1, 2022
The text isn't interesting, but the art is superb. I love seeing all the different styles. Most of the illustrations are from the 1940s to the early 1960s. There are three beautifully illustrated Black children in here, but other than that everybody is White.
April 25, 2017
Golden books are the bomb. Something about those shiny spines.
July 14, 2016
Short & sweet with helpful reminders about livin the good life.
September 12, 2023
I still have some of my Golden Books. A sweet simple book reminding adults to simply enjoy life n take care of themselves.
December 30, 2018
Ahhh, the memories this brought back. And yes, I am dating myself with that statement. But hey, they are fun books for all ages. I still have a collection of them that range from the 60's to the early 00's. Some mine, some my daughter's and some my grandsons'. Someday I'll be adding titles that were published in the very late 'teens or the 20's, depending on when the boys get around to starting their familes.
March 3, 2021
Pleasantly nostalgic to flip through, but all the life advice was mostly generic sayings retroactively added to Little Golden Book pictures, and usually having nothing to do with the original stories. I wish they'd put in a little effort to make it things we ACTUALLY might have learned from Little Golden Books.
July 25, 2019
I enjoyed how they put all the golden books in the book with something inspirational!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 772 reviews