Little Galoshes

Little Galoshes
Kathryn and Byron Jackson ~ J.P. Miller
Simon and Schuster, 1949

One of the most beloved titled in the early 'A Little Golden Book' catalog, like many of the first ones, I find elements of the story a wee bit quirky. I think many of these were written when the children's books formats we know today were just starting to form and people were experimenting with what they thought a children's book was supposed to be. Lucky Mrs. Ticklefeather has passages that baffle me still. But regardless, the colors and cultural references can be pretty timeless, so it's easy to see why people get addicted to collecting these. Children go mad for them, and they are almost the only series of books that have been so branded that children know them on sight. My son has a shelf expressly for his Little Goldens which he brings me by the stack to read to him at dinner time. Anywho, there's this boy who lives on a farm...

When Little Galoshes was in the house he wore little brown shoes. But whenever he put on his little blue coat, and his little red cap, and his little red woolly mittens, and started out the door, his mother called to him. "Put on your galoshes," she said. And he always did.

When it snows, the galoshes go screek. When it's muddy, the galoshes go squish. If the ground is frozen, the galoshes go clunk. And that is how his barnyard friends know him, by the sounds his boots make. So, when one morning he wakes up before his mom and forgets his galoshes, the animals seem to not know him at all. In fact, they are somewhat hostile that a strange boy should be wandering onto their turf. He gets cold-shouldered by the chickens, chided by the pigs and head-butted by the calf and the goat before running home to his mother who gives him warm oatmeal and insight into his wardrobe malfunction.

Beautifully illustrated by the great J.P. Miller, I can only imagine the little minds that were influenced by this tale of mistaken identity. The always fabulous blog Golden Gems has scanned the entire book here for your viewing pleasure, so head over and check it out.

Also by:
Lucky Mrs. Ticklefeather
Little Peewee
The Around the Year Storybook
The Little Red Hen