This blog is named for the My Book House set of chidren's books. These books were first published in the 1920's and were edited by Olive Beaupre Miller. I have added a link to Ms. Miller's biographical information from Smith College, her alma mater, which holds her papers in its Sophia Smith collection.
There was a 1937 twelve-volume set of My Book House at my grandmother's house that belonged to my father and his brother. As a preschooler, whenever I visited my grandmother, she would take a volume from the old glass front bookcase in her room and read it to me. When I was in first grade, I was finally big enough to "picture walk" and read through the books on my own.
The first volume, In The Nursery, which is for infants and toddlers, has full color illustrations and is filled with a wonderful selection of Mother Goose rhymes along with nursery rhymes from all around the world and a wonderful selection of poems for children. The second volume, Story Time, has some color illustrations, and has poems and classic folktale, stories, fables from around the world.
The succeeding volumes are lavishly illustrated with beautiful three-tone blue, sepia, and orange illustrations of magical gardens and heroes and fairies and are filled with stories and poems. The reading level becomes progressively more difficult in each volume as the set was designed to provide a basic library of reading material for a child from birth to adulthood. Later volumes have stories by classic authors such as Dickens and Shakespeare.
One of my favorite stories in My Book House is the poem, "Verses on Kingsley's Water Babies", which appears in Volume 3, Up On Pair of Stairs. The author is uncredited and may have been Ms. Miller, herself, as she is frequently named as the composer of many of the poems in the books. The illustrations were a major attraction. Mariel Wilhoite's pictures of the dirty chimney sweep's transformation into a naked, gilled water baby, who rides buoys, swims underwater, and talks to the huge king of the salmon totally fascinated me as a young child probably in part because my grandmother lived at the beach.
I think, perhaps, it is a testament to the power of good children's literature and illustrations, that I still enjoy reading this poem and best of all looking at the illustrations more than forty years later. I have most of that original My Book House set. I filled in the gaps with copies purchased on E-Bay. I still enjoy looking at these books and sharing the stories and poems with my own children.
Olive Beaupre Miller was ahead of her time. She selected what she believed was the best literature for children from sources from all around the world. Her selections are still remarkably current and mostly free of culturally insensitive material. Many of the children's illustrators, whose work appears in My Book House, are among the world's most famous, including Randolph Caldecott, William Blake, and N.C. Wyeth. She was even a proponent of sex education for children in the 1930's.
So here's to the memory of Olive Beaupre Miller! When I began to look for the missing volumes of My Book House on E-bay in 1999, I researched online and could find very little information about the books and nothing about Ms. Miller. When I started this blog, I found several sites with information including the Smith College site. I am glad to know that I can now google Ms. Miller and get a hit. I can't find an entry for her on Wikipedia yet*, but I'll keep checking.
Update June 2010
More info about My Book House and Olive Beaupre' Miller on the web.
Update October 2010
Regarding buying and selling of My Book House books and other merchandise using this website: Ms. Kathy is not responsible for any information posted by potential buyers or sellers in the comments for this post nor is she in anyway a party to any sales that result from information posted in the comments.
Ms. Kathy highly recommends that you use Amazon.com, Ebay, Alibris, Etsy (vintage), or another reputable website for the buying and selling of My Book House items. Links to sales of MBH items on these and other reputable sites that are included in comments will be posted. This post and the comments about it are intended to be solely informational. This is an open forum for My Book House fans.
Update - Donn P. Crane, illustrator 1/13/11
A reader left a comment which is a link to a blog post on Donn P. Crane, one of the illustrators of My Book House. This post was a follow-up to a previous post, http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/man-of-mystery-donn-p-crane/, Here is the link. to the second post: http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/donn-p-crane-man-of-mystery-revealed/ .
Thanks for the link and the info!
*Update September 2, 2012 - Olive Beaupre' Miller entry in Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Beaupre_Miller
Winnetka Historical Society Olive Beaupre' Miller page - http://www.winnetkahistory.org/index.php?id=95
There was a 1937 twelve-volume set of My Book House at my grandmother's house that belonged to my father and his brother. As a preschooler, whenever I visited my grandmother, she would take a volume from the old glass front bookcase in her room and read it to me. When I was in first grade, I was finally big enough to "picture walk" and read through the books on my own.
The first volume, In The Nursery, which is for infants and toddlers, has full color illustrations and is filled with a wonderful selection of Mother Goose rhymes along with nursery rhymes from all around the world and a wonderful selection of poems for children. The second volume, Story Time, has some color illustrations, and has poems and classic folktale, stories, fables from around the world.
The succeeding volumes are lavishly illustrated with beautiful three-tone blue, sepia, and orange illustrations of magical gardens and heroes and fairies and are filled with stories and poems. The reading level becomes progressively more difficult in each volume as the set was designed to provide a basic library of reading material for a child from birth to adulthood. Later volumes have stories by classic authors such as Dickens and Shakespeare.
One of my favorite stories in My Book House is the poem, "Verses on Kingsley's Water Babies", which appears in Volume 3, Up On Pair of Stairs. The author is uncredited and may have been Ms. Miller, herself, as she is frequently named as the composer of many of the poems in the books. The illustrations were a major attraction. Mariel Wilhoite's pictures of the dirty chimney sweep's transformation into a naked, gilled water baby, who rides buoys, swims underwater, and talks to the huge king of the salmon totally fascinated me as a young child probably in part because my grandmother lived at the beach.
I think, perhaps, it is a testament to the power of good children's literature and illustrations, that I still enjoy reading this poem and best of all looking at the illustrations more than forty years later. I have most of that original My Book House set. I filled in the gaps with copies purchased on E-Bay. I still enjoy looking at these books and sharing the stories and poems with my own children.
Olive Beaupre Miller was ahead of her time. She selected what she believed was the best literature for children from sources from all around the world. Her selections are still remarkably current and mostly free of culturally insensitive material. Many of the children's illustrators, whose work appears in My Book House, are among the world's most famous, including Randolph Caldecott, William Blake, and N.C. Wyeth. She was even a proponent of sex education for children in the 1930's.
So here's to the memory of Olive Beaupre Miller! When I began to look for the missing volumes of My Book House on E-bay in 1999, I researched online and could find very little information about the books and nothing about Ms. Miller. When I started this blog, I found several sites with information including the Smith College site. I am glad to know that I can now google Ms. Miller and get a hit. I can't find an entry for her on Wikipedia yet*, but I'll keep checking.
Update June 2010
More info about My Book House and Olive Beaupre' Miller on the web.
Update October 2010
Regarding buying and selling of My Book House books and other merchandise using this website: Ms. Kathy is not responsible for any information posted by potential buyers or sellers in the comments for this post nor is she in anyway a party to any sales that result from information posted in the comments.
Ms. Kathy highly recommends that you use Amazon.com, Ebay, Alibris, Etsy (vintage), or another reputable website for the buying and selling of My Book House items. Links to sales of MBH items on these and other reputable sites that are included in comments will be posted. This post and the comments about it are intended to be solely informational. This is an open forum for My Book House fans.
Update - Donn P. Crane, illustrator 1/13/11
A reader left a comment which is a link to a blog post on Donn P. Crane, one of the illustrators of My Book House. This post was a follow-up to a previous post, http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/man-of-mystery-donn-p-crane/, Here is the link. to the second post: http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/donn-p-crane-man-of-mystery-revealed/ .
Thanks for the link and the info!
*Update September 2, 2012 - Olive Beaupre' Miller entry in Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Beaupre_Miller
Winnetka Historical Society Olive Beaupre' Miller page - http://www.winnetkahistory.org/index.php?id=95
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64 comments:
I learned to read on the 1937 version of My Book House, ed. Olive Beaupre Miller. They were my father's books and he learned to read on them after getting them from his mother. My children read them today and my 10 year old has memorized many poems from the books and my three year old can recite by memory Casey Jones and the poem about Orville and Wilber Wright.
My sister is looking for a story that was in our father's very early edition and is not in my 1971 edition - about a girl who looked into a jar after she was told not to and had bad luck until she admitted that she had. Can you possibly come up with the title of this story?
Can you tell me which book you think the story about the girl was in or describe the cover? Each book in the series had a title such as , Storytime, Up One Pair of Stairs, In Fairy Halls, etc. I will browse through my 1937 set.
Ms. Kathy - Sorry if this is a duplicate post - I just sent you an offline email re: this story. Thank you very much.
There now is an entry on wikipedia for Olive Beaupre Miller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Beaupre_Miller#External_links
:)
I was wondering if you could tell me what some of the differences are between the 1937 edition of My Book House and the 1971 edition. I have heard that, for instance, the title of Little Black Sambo has been changed and that a space travel piece has been added. Are there any other differences? Which edition do you think is best?
Thank you
I don't own a 1971 set or have access to one so I am unsure what the differences are. I have looked at one book in that set (I think it was the second volume, Storytime) but I don't think I still have that book in my possession. I have one volume of the 1920's edition (Up One Pair of Stairs) and it appears that Miller expanded the books in later editions. I think this is noted in the articles linked to Wikipedia. Miller seemed to want each edition to be current at the time it was published. There is also a parent's guide, In Your Hands, which I don't own.
My interest in the books is personal, as described in the blog heading, and professional as a librarian, since librarians were seen as "cultural uplifters" during the time The Bookhouse books were first published and I feel that Miller's editing reflects those same values. I am not really interested in the books as collectible investments so I haven't made much study of any edition other than the one that I own, which is the 1937 edition. Thanks for asking, though, and good luck finding out more! : )
I was given the BOOK HOUSE set as a gift by my mother when I was born, and grew up with them. Although almost 40 now, they are still a delight to read and bring back fond memories for me. The original set I had was in dark green and navy blue covers, but I bought the new set in white covers and have them in a prominent place on my office shelf. Too bad kids today don't have the appreciation for such a great treasure as these were, and I thank God I had the privelege of them in my own life.
I have only just "scanned" your thoughts on the "Book House." This was also one of my best book friends as I grew up and have been ordering it in bits and pieces as I find them on the internet. I STILL LOVE THEM and I'm 62! I have never quite forgiven my mother for giving away my set! A great-aunt was one of the ladies who sold those books, so we had bought the set from her. I don't think anything like them has every shown up and I enjoy sharing the books with my smallest buddies!
Nance in Alabama
My brother and sister and I also grew up with a set of these books (1930's dark blue volumes) and we all spent many hours reading and enjoying all the stories and the great pictures. I am going to be 60 this summer and just bought a 1930's set on ebay. It has been great going through each book - so many wonderful memories come flooding back! I am sharing them with my grandchilden and hope that the books will mean as much to them as they did to me.
Wow...I've been searching for a My Book House set to buy and stumbled onto your blog. I'm thrilled to find other MBH aficianados. (I should have guessed some were out there, judging by the price sets are commanding!)The family set had been purchased for my 12-years older sister, but when I came along I was the one who read them. She won't give them to me! Recently, she picked up another set for a song, but she won't give me that one, either. I'll just bite the bullet & buy a set of my own. One of my favorite bits is the retelling of a Midsummer's Night Dream (not sure of the volume) and I often think of a poem about the pearly city smoke, comparing it to doves. Apparently air pollution was not recognized as such in 1937!
How are you? I am glad to find your message thread.
I also remember reading Miller's Book House, as a child. It got me into a lot of trouble, as none of the grown ups had any idea of what I was talking about. LOL! They thought all those weird stories were a bunch of *###*@(^^)%! Especially the one about the woman from Pennsylvania Dutch country who scrubbed everything clean. She scrubbed so hard on everything and everyone that she scrubbed the faces off of her children. An illustration was included, of the faceless children. I thought the books would get thrown out in the trash, as the grown ups thought that was just too bizarre! (I don't know how the books got into the house in the first place.)
I remember the Rose and the Ring, and the Water Babies most vividly, along with many other stories. I now find comments on the stories, at WikiPedia.org, including that the Water Babies touched on many themes, including serious commentary on biological evolution, as presented in Darwin's Origin of Species. Wow! As a child, I suspected the stories were trying to say something beyond the surface story line. Years later, I see that all of the authors were, in fact, speaking at many levels.
Can anyone help me find the title and author of the following story? I vaguely remember another strange fairy tail, but am not sure if it was in the Book House. It was about a girl who lived in a village made of puff pastry shells, baked as light as air. When the weather brought strong winds, the houses would blow away, but could be retrieved with attached cables and windlasses. Weird? Aye? But how apropos a story for the hurricane coasts of the U.S.!
Is there an online table of contents for the Book House? Or is an electronic copy available? Or is the Book House not yet in the public domain? Or is my best alternative to purchase a used copy? I wonder if I need to look for a particular edition, to get most of the stories.
Oops... that story about a village made of pastry was a fairy tale, not a fairy tail.
Can anyone share any links to online copies of the Book House? Here are some that I have found.
But first, you all may already know about this, but an online site promises to locate the nearest free library with a paper copy of the Book House (or any book). I do not know if this online index is accurate. I have not tried it, as the nearest copy of the Book House is 88 miles away. I might as well purchase a used set.
The site is
http://www.worldcat.org
Which I found through the following site.
http://books.google.com/
At the following link, WorldCat.org lists available paper copies, at brick and mortar libraries. You enter your zip code, and get a list of the closest copies.
http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AOlive+Beaupre%CC%81+Miller&qt=hot_author
At the following link, Books.Google.com shows some links to electronic copies of the Book House. Some can be downloaded, in the PDF format.
http://books.google.com/books?id=PYkXAAAAIAAJ&q=bookhouse&dq=bookhouse&pgis=1
Here are some links to electronic copies, of particular volumes:
"The Magic Garden"
http://books.google.com/books?id=l3wWdud6bYIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=bookhouse&source=gbs_similarbooks_r&cad=2_1
"Flying Sails"
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZIY6Yi2cTG0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=bookhouse&source=gbs_similarbooks_r&cad=2_1
"The Latch Key" appears to be a set of master indices to all of the volumes. This one can be downloaded as a PDF, a full ten and a half megabytes, but all in bit mapped images. There has been no OCR conversion to ASCII text, to enable key word searching.
http://books.google.com/books?id=S4oXAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=bookhouse&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=2_0
I can't remember how I found the Internet Archive at Archive.org. But it has a downloadable PDF of "From the Tower Window":
http://www.archive.org/details/scriblio_test_107
Without the trouble of a download, the following page will allow you to open a virtual copy of "The Latch Key" in a browser, and allow keyword searches. Look for the links in the side bar titled "View the book".
http://www.archive.org/details/thelatchkey01millarch
I have not figured out how to download, open and view the various downloadable formats. There is a help file that I will need to work through. But it looks like most of the formats can be viewed through a browser, without downloading. Amazing! Never thought that I would see, in my lifetime, this instant electronic access of information. My imagination could not foresee this, even as a child, when I read the Book House, during the start of the "space age"!
Despite all the online information, I still have not found anything about that fairy tale that I am seeking.
Has anyone else compared their childhood memories with the more learned analyses at sources such as WikiPedia.org? As a child, those Book House stories were so fascinating and mysterious to me. Now, I see the many levels of meaning. It was very puzzling to me, as a child, but entertaining... one big riddle.
Because some have expressed doubts about the ethics of freely distributed electronic copies, I should mention that the copyrights have expired on the Book House. The Book House is in the legendary public domain, as a shared cultural resource, for all to use. Considering the coarseness of current "culture", is it not a good thing to put the Book House on the electronic superhighway, to be shared with all schools and households?
Our U.S. Congress has incrementally extended copyright coverage and duration, but only for more recent publications. A table is at the following link, which gives the opinion that "... All copyrightable works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain...".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_copyright_law#Duration_of_copyright
At the following link, Books.Google.com shows some links to electronic copies of the Book House. Some can be downloaded, in files of various formats, some of which can be opened with free software.
http://books.google.com/books?q=bookhouse&btnG=Search+Books
The following page will allow you to open a virtual copy of "The Latch Key" in your browser, and enables keyword searches. Look for the links in the left-hand side bar, titled "View the book".
http://www.archive.org/details/thelatchkey01millarch
It is interesting that many copyrighted books are also available at books.google.com, but in abridged preview formats. The authors want you to share their thoughts.
The Village of Cream Puffs by Carl Sandburg is in Book 2 in the 1937 edition of My Book House.
John Playfair--wow! I admire your reseach & will check the sites you've mentioned. Still, I must add that I'm familiar with Worldcat, so I know that the information on it may not be accurate. When libraries weed collections, naturally those books are no longer available at the library. Worldcat won't reflect that until the library sends the info to OCLC. I have often wondered if all libraries bother to do this. Happy MBH hunting!
Ex-librarian
How are you doing, Anonymous? Thanks to both of you, for your helpful info!
Since you helped me with a more complete title "The Village of Cream Puffs" I was able to locate at GutenBerg.org an electronic copy of "How They Bring Back the Village of Cream Puffs When the Wind Blows It Away", by Carl Sandburg, part of his Rootabaga Stories for children, 1922.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootabaga_Stories
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/27085
From GutenBerg.org, I was able to download an HTML copy of this story, including not just the ASCII text, but also the whimsical illustrations. Amazing technology!
I would have never guessed that Carl Sandburg wrote this story, about a protagonist named "Wing Tip the Spick." I grew up in an area where many people still spoke Spanish as their first language. What was goin' on, in Sandburg's Scandinavian mind? Must have been one of those unfortunate linguistic coincidences. I understood at an early age that the story of "Wing Tip the Spick" was best not shared with the grown ups. I was told to clean up my language and stop reading weird books. LOL! (At that time, grownups had little education and not much imagination.)
On the other subject-- We can't trust the online catalogs of brick and mortar libraries, because librarians are "weeding" their collections? They don't have enough budget or space to keep the books? I hope that they have the resources to digitize the books, before disposing of them.
Just saw the opera "Die Walkure" last night and the vision in the last scene of Brunhilda on the rock with flames all around brought back some vivid forgotten image. Upon awakening this morning, I went straight to my bookshelves and plucked Vol 11, In Shining Armor, from my 1937 series and on page 81 this scene was depicted by Donn Crane - must have been burned in my mind as a young child reading my older sister's BookHouse series - of course, I never actually read the Wagner story but the renderings made a deep impression.
I have a complete first edition (1920) set of the "My Book House" collection with the sought after wooden house storage unit. In addition to the six volume set (#1 - In The Nursery, #2 - Up One Pair Of Stairs, #3 - Through Fairy Halls, #4 - The Treasure Chest, #5 - The Latch Key, #6 - From The Tower Window), there is a 3 volume set of "My Travelship" 1925,1926,1927 first edition (Tales Told From Holland, Nursery Friends From France and Little Pictures Of Japan). All are stored in the "House"! The wooden house is in good condition with a missing piece of wood at the front bottom and one window has missing cross pieces. This collection will be for sale as of 3/3/2010. I will send photos to interested parties only. Price is $1500. Contact David @ davidplace@aol.com.
Thanks so much for this useful information. I just received a complete six volume set of "My Bookhouse" (the 1920-1900 edition) from a relative who is passing her set on to my 2-year old daughter. They're really, really beautiful and it's great to learn a little about the series and the editor.
My grandmother had a set of My Book House books at her house, which I eagerly read every time I visited her. Somehow, my cousin ended up with the set, which I have been envying ever since! I finally found a good set on e-bay and I have been devouring them! They bring back such good memories, and now I read myself a bedtime story each night! What fun memories these books bring back, and such good morals in the stories! They need to do another printing! ~ Kathy Ann
Just today, at a used bookstore in the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, I found "My Book House," volume 10, "From the Tower Window." What a delight! What beautiful typography and illustrations! I'm glad to know a little bit more about them, and their editor. Many thanks!
My Edition is from the mid twenties, My mothers has the Picture Book of Japan, which is actually illustrations.
Mine is from the 70's. I bought it for the Illustrations. And to read to the kids. Great stuff.
Hi.. can you tell me which book the providence poem was in?
I learned to love literature through my set of My Book House. So glad to see so many other people with parents with the foresight to buy their children this set when they were young.
I was born in 1944 and grew up with the 12 Volume set of My Blue Bookhouse which also has a Parents Guide. These books might have had the most influence of anything on my life. I so loved the illustrations. I became a watercolor painter, published, world famous. Now that I'm finding a set for my Sister, who has Children, I'm thinking about how much I loved - and still love - these beautiful books. My Mother was so wonderful to find and get these books for me. What a great Mother.
I have a my bookhouse in the nursery 1920,1925
this book cover is red can any tell me the value
Check Alibris, Amazon, and Ebay to get an idea. Value of old books generally depends on three basic things; condition, scarcity, and demand. In the Nursery is probably the most popular volume of the set because it is nicely illustrated and has lots of still popular nursery rhymes. I had to replace the one from my 1937 set and noticed that it was going for more than other volumes. Volume 2 is also popular. The volumes in the 1920s sets are different from the 1937 set I own. I think they added a volume to the later sets. You may already know this, but when you search, try putting "my book house" and "in the nursery" in quotes and add "olive" to get better results.
I used the following keyword string (after the dash) on Alibris and got pretty good results - olive miller and "my book house" and "in the nursery"
Good Luck!
I remember with pleasure a set of My Book House, which had six or eight volumes. My dad bought this set, and my earliest reading was from these great books. They increased in difficulty. I enjoyed the easier levels and gradually was able to read the most difficult.It was probably in the late twenties as I was born in 1923.
Hello...Just found this site. I have a complete set of 1937 books with the parent guide. With the exception of the first volume (that must have been read and reread..and has the binding somewhat loose) all the volumes (1-12 and parent guide) are in perfect shape. I've had them on my shelf for at least 30 years...having bought them at an estate sale because they were so beautiful. Until I decided to "clean house" I forgot that I had them.
Can anyone tell me what the complete 1937 set may be worth?
I have the 1925 set of six books, purchased on eBay from a lady who was moving and couldn't take them. She'd had them since childhood.
I'm 82 now, and my mother used to tell me that when I was two years old I used to haul Book One into her room first thing in the morning and demand that she read it to me. She'd say, "No, you read it to me," and I would sit beside her on the pillow and recite the poems from the pictures.
I was fascinated to find the set on eBay because it was pristine. No tears, no smudges. Beautiful from beginning to end. Even Book One, which is usually in tatters from children reading it. I've seen some astonishing prices on the books. The ones in good condition go for the most.
I have a set of 1921 books. My father learned to read with these books, and they were enjoyed by a cousin, too. Fabulous books. Willing to part with them; make me an offer. They should go to a good home. stucartwright@yahoo.com
Can you tell me which volume/edition has the story Shingebis? It was one of my favorites as a child and I would love to have it for my children.
Shingebiss: A Chipewa Indian Tale is in Volume 2, Story Time (1963 edition) on pg. 96. I am looking for an ebook version of it but no luck yet.
I believe this is an ebook of the 1920's edition with the Shingebiss story. This volume is In the Nursery (Volume 1). Shingebiss is on page 339. There is a preceding post by John Playfair that talks about finding these books on Google Books.
Please note: later editions, like my 1963 copy, split this 1920's book into two books, I believe, In the Nursery (Vol 1) and Story Time (Vol 2).
http://books.google.com/books?id=yYgXAAAAIAAJ&dq=my%20book%20house%20olive%20miller%20shingebiss&pg=PA339#v=onepage&q&f=false
i am disparatly looking for a picture and more info on the artist Donn P Crane..all i have found to date is he was born in 1887 in springfield mo. and moved to chicago..he did most of the ill. in the book house books. they are wonderful...he died in 1944...meaning that we are dealing with grand children now who might remember him and about him and might have pic. sfm. thanks for any help on this...and thank you for this blog...
Fun to find this site! Thank you! I grew up with the 1925 series that was first my grandmother's and then my mother's and have just started re-reading it again. I'm amazed at the beautiful drawings and the variety of the rhymes and poetry in "In the Nursery". I think about how all of the medieval and otherwise archaic ideas of childhood must have seemed to my grandmother, mother, and me. I wonder how childhood today is shaped differently. Mostly just wanted to say thanks!
http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/donn-p-crane-man-of-mystery-revealed/
The above comment is a link to a post about Donn P. Crane, one of the illustrators of the My Book House books.
My boys, ages 9 and 4, and I started a used book company for them to earn some money and appreciate books. Unfortunately,it has been a year and while we have enjoyed the books we have purchased,we really haven't listed anything for sale. Along the way though, we salvaged vol 2,3,4 1920 and Vol 5,6 1921 from Goodwill. They are in pretty good shape considering. Bindings slightly torn on vol 2&4. The other bindings show wear. Vol 2 p 396 is bent and slightly torn. There are some smudge marks and a few slightly dog eared corners throughout the set but not that many. Vol 6 p63/64 is badly torn but still readable. FYI, my kids had nothing to do with the wear and tear. ; ) We keep them on the top of the bookshelf and read them as a treat. Of course, they love the illustrations. The covers which are green are so inviting with the color pictures. Goodwill knew the value and I paid $50 each. By far our biggest investment. If you are interested in purchasing, I can be contacted at info@booknavy.com.
Hi My name is Michele,
I have 4 of the first edition My Bookhouse books.
#2 Up One Pair of Stairs. (condition is on the rough side but still intact and readable. (copyright page is missing. I believe it is 1920)
#3 Through Fairy Halls. (condition is pretty good). (copyright 1920)
#4 The treasure Chest. (condition ok, binding coming lose, but still intact and readable.) (copyright 1920)
#5 From the Tower Window. (Condition good shape). (copyright 1921)
I am willing to sell all 4 books for $100.00, only serious inquiries please.
Contact me @ micheletheakston@yahoo.com or call me @ 916-607-2911
Hello, I am looking for the miniature books that came with the miniature metal my book house in the mid 20s. I have a wooden house with a full set of books and have hd the metal miniature for some time and still searching for the books to fillit. Does anyone know where to find them.
bruceandchris@att.net
I have the entire set of the 1937 volume and would like to know the value of this set.
The price varies based on condtion, from seller to seller, etc. Here is the price of individual volumes on Alibris. http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?keyword=my+book+house+1937&mtype=B&hs.x=1&hs.y=5
I have noticed that the first two volumes, In the Nursery and Story Time, which are colored, often sell for much more than the later volumes in the set.
What fun to discover this blog and to hear the stories of how children of all ages over the ages have loved the works of my grandmother, Olive Beaupre Miller. She was quite a lady with a real passion for reading and writing which she lovingly tried to impart to her grandchildren.
Your grandmother literary contributions continue to thrive! I found this site two days ago - I'm digging frantically for information. I'm working to confirm the generation of the Bookhouse House I have; believing it to be between 1927-1934. I also have the edition with seven books with red binding - in very good condition. The story twists a bit for me: My grandmother bought the books for my mother in 1934; she treasured them. In 1967 my folks moved to a farm and named it "Beaupre" as it remains named today. The coincidence amazes both of us. The books and their house have been retrieved from the basement and have a prominent place on our hearth at the moment as I continue to dig for information.
I've updated my profile to show an image of my bookhouse and books!
Great site! Glad to see so many people are still enjoying these wonderful books. I have a six volume set of these books (6.5" set) published in the 1920's as well as the 3 volume set of "My Travelship" (in the larger 11"). I also have the wooden house which has some slight damage to the front panel and one window. All books are in good condition with the exception that the binding of vol. 1 of the 6 vol. set is broken down a bit. If you would like to discuss purchasing the set, e-mail me - davidplace@aol.com.
I'll be 73 tomorrow and loved My Bookhouse as a child, but mostly the illustrations I'm afraid. And I would love to get my hands on another. But I have a question: Was it the 1937 edition that had the different color cloth covers, that ran from an olive green on the first book to a dark blue on the last?
Beginning in 1946 when I was six, I had a series of illnesses that kept me in bed for weeks at a time, under quarantine. Books were my main companions. The My Book House 1937 series became my treasured companion. For some reason, I thought the numbers on the spine represented the grade one had to be in to read that volume, and was sure something awful would happen if one broke the rule. One day out of sheer desperation and boredom, I dared to open volume 3. I was so delighted to discover that I could read that volume that I blurted out my transgression to my dad, who gave me smiling permission to read any of the books I wanted to. Thus was launched a lifetime of delighted reading, teaching, writing and painting, the seeds of inspiration for which came from burying myself in My Book House. These are FABULOUS books! My original set got burned in a house fire. Awful. I recently bought a complete set in great condition from Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon for $85. I've filled in the Travelship series via Amazon.com, AbeBooks, and eBay. I pray my grandchildren and great grandchildren will treasure these books and reading as I have done.
You can find out more about the Book House in a book written by Dorothy Loring Taylor called OLIVE BEAUPRE MILLER and THE BOOK HOUSE for CHILDREN published in 1986 by Chicago Review Press.
I received my father's 12 volume set from my grandmother when I was a child, and although we've lost volumes 1,2 and 6, the rest are back at my parents' house, ready for their fifth generation of child readers. I hope to replace those lost volumes sometime soon.
I'm 61. My parents bought the whole series in 1948 - 2 yrs before I was born. The books have traveled with e over the years from the USAto Europe where I currently live. I have the full 12volumes,Parents Guide as well as the 3 larger volumes, Images from Japan, Pictures from Holland and Images from France. The latter volume was missing and I just recently purchased it in an antique mall in South Carolina for $56.......I absolutely love these books and I sometimes curl up on the sofa and read them. The first volumes were mostly read by me - the blue volumes always appeared to be too "boyish" to me! The colmlection is in great shape. I love my books !!!!!
My daughter and I have fallen in love with the "My Book House" series and the collecting bug has definately bitten the both of us. While researching I noticed the 1927 My Book House wooden house (and she immediately decided that her books needed a dollhouse..LOL) Finding a house is another story. I've only found a small handful of original wooden houses but they are priced way out of our league. This morning I noticed that one was listed on Ebay and before I bid I was wondering if it was the house that the books were stored in? Any feedback / assistance would be greatly appreciated!!
Sorry but I have never seen one. If you send me a photo of one, I will post it. Good luck!
My father was given the entire set (red covers) back in the 1920s. Growing up, I read them all and would like to have my own set, someday.
One story I remember was about a spoiled young prince who was taken away by a good fairy to break him of his selfishness. He was locked into a room with anything he wanted to eat or do, and he acted like a brat. The windows got smaller until the room was dark, and he heard a caged bird cheep. His selfless acts with the bird eventually won his release, and he became a wonderful king.
Which book was this story in?
I work with Missouri Goodwill Industries in Saint Louis and we have had what appears to be a 1925 set of The Book House books (6) plus the 3 Travel books. These were donated inside a large wooden house that appears to be a display piece provided by the publisher for display in book stores. I have done a lot of research yet can come up with nothing on the house itself. Has anyone ever heard of this set having a house? Does anyone have an idea of value?
Thanks in advance for you help
Hi,
I have a book by Olive Beaupre' Miller dated 1918 titled "Come Play With Me". Would anyone be interested in purchasing it? Contact me at jklmur@comcast.net.
Thank you
Jean
My Bookhouse Books in Original Display
Price Realized: $120.00
Auction: 3/12/2011 - Decor Auction
"Set of Bookhouse Books in original dollhouse bookcase, includes nine volumes by Olive Beaupre Miller, The Bookhouse for Children publishers, Chicago, all set within a painted wooden bookcase in the form of a dollhouse with cut-out windows and chimneys and having stenciled My Bookhouse on each end; ht. 21.75, wd. 13.25, dp. 11 in."
The link includes a picture of the books in the house.
http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=92942
One of the greatest things my far from perfect parents ever did for their 5 children was buy a My Bookhouse Set. The 3 Travelship books came with the set. They're the first books I ever held. The illustrations and stories I loved still linger in the recesses of all else I've learned and know. My children loved them too. Last year I was given a beautiful granddaughter. We recently lost her grandfather....the last time I saw him I carried the My Bookhouse set down the stairs, he wasn't strong enough to carry the box. We were getting the bookset ready to hand over to the next generation. Forever that memory will sustain me when I soon read In The Nursery to our little Clara. Thankyou.
Hi , I have the rainbow My Book House set and the three my travelship books. got the set in the 50's.
I'm looking for the volumes that had black covers that told the history of civilization that accompanied my rainbow volumes . What was the title of those volumes . I lost those and I wanted to see if I could purchase them
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